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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

S^apO-'d 1 §ojnjrig|i Ifa 

Shel£B-&4 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



OCT 



10r» 



Outline Evolution 



OF 



EMPIRE asd PROPHECY 



BY 

5REWSTER Esq. 



IS 



" In the study of History, a general view of the ivhole enables the mind 
to form a truer judgment on the several parts.'" — Polybius, Book 2, c. 1. 



" The predictions of Scripture, if carefully examined, ivill be found to con- 
tain the great outlines of the History of the world.' 11 

—Preface to Scott's Commentaries, page 8. 



" Lord Bacon recommends works comparing History with the prophecies. 
—Newton on the Prophesies, Dissertation 26, page 635. 




NEW YORK: 
J. S. OGILVIE & COMPANY, 

No, 31 Rose Street. 



mat 



|TMg LIBRARY 
or C ONGR ESS 

WASHINGTON 



Copyright 1884, 
By J. S. OGILVIE & CO 



PREFACE. 



The object of these pages is to present briefly a con- 
nected view of general history and to show its relation to 
prophecy. A proper understanding of the subject will re- 
quire a sedulous perusal of those portions of the propheti- 
cal writings referred to in the foot-notes and an impartial 
comparison of them with the events of history, as detailed 
in the text. The leading authors cited will be found to 
throw great light on both the historians and the prophets, 
and should be carefully examined. Empires have been se- 
lected as the topics of reflection, since it is of them the 
prophets mainly write. If the labor of acquiring or recall- 
ing the knowledge of imperial events, as related to the 
prophetical records, is lightened and aid afforded to any 
one who is in search of the truth, or a desire excited in any 
mind to examine the historians and the prophets, the 
author's wishes will be accomplished. 



CONTENTS. 



INTRODUCTION. 

The Works of the Leading Historians considered in 
Connection with Empires 19 

Empire of the Assyrians. Portions of Diodorus applicable to it. 
Empire of the Medes and Persians. Herodotus; when lie flourished; sub- 
stance of his work. Empire of the Greeks. Plutarch. Thucydides. 
Xenophon's Affairs of Greece. Parts of Diodorus to be consulted on this 
period. Arrian, the historian of Alexander. Empire of the Romans. 
Livy. Sallust. Caesar. Pansa. Polybius. Justin. Tacitus. Suetonius. 
Marcellinus. Zosimus. Eutropius. Orosius. Eastern Empire of the 
Romans. Procopius. Zonaras. Choniates. Gregoras. Cantacuzene. 
Chalchondites. Empire of the Turks. Augustan History. Modern 
times afford general historians, as well as those of epochs. Elmakin. 
Ockley. Cantemir. Western Empire of the Romans. How and when 
destroyed. Neustrian Division of the Empire of the Franks. Crow. 
Paris. Froissart. DeComines. Guicciardini. De Thou. Davila. Sully. 
Thuanus. Racine. Brienne. DeRetz. Villars. Noailles. Dumourier. 
DeStael. Thiers. Blanc. Austrasian Division of the Empire of the 
Franks. Kohlrausch. Cox. Powers of Europe connected with the Em- 
pire of the Franks. Sweden. Prussia. Russia. Spain. Portugal. 
United Provinces. Belgium. Denmark. Switzerland. Two Sicilies. 
Papal dominions. Austrian dominions in Italy. Sardinia. Voltaire. 
Geijer. Prescott. Robertson. "Watson. Motley. Empire of the Anglo- 
Saxons. Hume. Smollett. Bisset. Gild as. Bede. William of Malmes- 
bury. Hoveden. Diceto. Paris. Brompton. Fitzstephens. Frois- 
sart. Walsingham. Vergil. Hall. Holinshed. More. Stowe. Speed. 
Baker. Clarendon. Neall. Burnet. Rapin. Coote. Alison. Carlyle. 
D'Aubigne\ Robertson. Macaulay. Anglo-Saxons and Franks in 
America. United States. Mexico. Yucatan. Central States. Brazil. 
Paraguay. Argentine Republic. Peru. Bolivia. Granada. Venezuela. 
Colombia. Chili. Holmes. Ramsay. Marshall. Irving. Bancroft. 
Hildreth. King. Kidder. The Sacred Scriptures afford the best clue to 
general history. Newton. Scott. 

CHAPTER I. 
The Empire of the Assyrians 43 

Extent of the Empire of the Assyrians. Ninus. Semiramis. Ninyas. 
Description of Babylon. Palace. Temple of Belus. Canals. Lake. 



CONTENTS. 



Hanging-garden. Nameless Emperors. Sardanapalus. Chaldeans and 
Medes divide the empire. Nahum. 

Commencement of Reigns. 



a.m. 

1. Ninus .about 2054 

2. Semiramis " 2061 

3. Ninyas " 2103 



A.M. 

4. The Nameless Emperors occupy 

a period of about eleven cen- 
turies. 

5. Sardanapalus* about 3257 



CHAPTER II. 

The Empire of the Medes and Persians , 49 

Defection of Medes. Deioces. Ecbatana. Phraortes. Cyaxares. 
Nineveh. The Scythians. Astyages. Mandane. Cyrus. Darius the 
Mede. Lydia. Capture of Babylon. Massagetae. Cambyses. Smerdis 
the Magian. Darius. Hystaspes. Xerxes. Overthrow in Greece. Isaiah. 
Jeremiah. 

Commencement of Reigns. 

A.M. 



1. Deioces about 3294 

2. Phraortes " 3347 

3. Cyaxares..' " 3369 

4. Astyagest " 3409 

5. Cyrus and Darius the Mede " 3444 



6. Cambyses about 3474 

7. Smerdis the Magian. Usurper. 

8. Darius Hystaspes about 3483 

9. Xerxes* " 3519 



CHAPTER III. 



The Empire of the Greeks 

States of Greece. Cecrops. Danaus. Cadmus. Pelops. Amphictyonic 
Council. Athens. Sparta. Messenia. Themistocles. The Piraeus. War 
with Persia. Treason of Pausanias. Flight of Themistocles. Cimon. 
Aristides. Pericles. Peloponnesian war. Pestilence. Spartan war 
with Persia. Agesilaus. Lysander. Disturbances in Greece. Thebes. 
Corinth. Argos. Conon. Place of Antalcidas. Sparta and Thebes. 
Epaminondas. Pelopidas. Leuctra. Man tinea. Divisions of Greece. 
Philip of Macedon. Alexander the Great. Thebes. Persia. India. Ari- 
deus. Perdiccas. Antipater. Craterus. Polysperchon. Cassander. 
Antigonus. Battle of Ipsus. Lysimachus. Ptolemy. Seleucus. Isaiah. 
Jeremiah. 

Commencement of Reigns. 



63 



A.M. 

1. Philip of Macedon§ about 3644 

2. Alexander the Great l ' 3668 

3. Arideus " 3681 



A.M. 
Cassander, Lysimachus, Pto- 
lemy, Seleucus about 3706 



* Dio. Sic, Bk. II. ch. ii. Justin, Bk. II. ch. iii.; note pp. 18, 19. 
t Her., Clio, pp. 50-52. Justin, p. 5. 
X Lardner's Chron. Tables. 
§ Lard. Ch. Tab. 



CONTENTS. 7 

CHAPTER IV. 

The Empire op the Romans to the Time op Augustus 

CLesar 77 

Flight of JEneas from Troy to Italy. Romulus founds Rome. Sabines. 
Tarquin the Proud. Violation of Lucretia. Junius Brutus. Consuls. 
Dictator. Tribunes of the people. Coriolanus. Cincinnatus. Laws of 
the Twelve Tables. Decemviri. Appius. Virginia. Camillus. Gallic 
invasion. Samnite war. Valerius. Pyrrhus. Carthaginian wars. 
Conquests of Macedon, Asia, Greece. Accession to Pergamus. Gracchi. 
Jugurthine war. Marius. Sylla. Mithridatic war. Pompey. Cataline. 
Cicero. Caesar. Crassus. Civil war. Pharsalia. Assassination of 
Caesar. Octavius. Antony. Philippi. Actium. Noah. Daniel. 

Commencement op Reigns. 

a.m. I a.m. 

1. Julius Caesar* about 3962 | 2. Augustus Caesar about 3980 

CHAPTER Y. 

The State of Society in all Empires to the Com- 
mencement of the Christian Era. — The Incarnation. 
— The Apocalypse 99 

Preliminary suggestion. Egypt. Government. Judiciary. Laws. Poly- 
gamy. Idolatry. Animals worshipped. Trial of the dead. Artificers. 
Husbandmen. Shepherds. Irrigation of the soil. Army. Buildings. 
Carthage. Religion. Moloch. Constitution. Commerce. The Jews. 
Military power. Learning. Hannibal. Mago. Hasdrubal. Terence. 
Persia. Judiciary. Mode of trial. Division of the empire by Cyrus. 
Posts. Military science. Arts. Music. Medicine. Astronomy. Greece. 
Athens. Sparta. Government. Lycurgus. Solon. Socrates. Plato. 
Aristotle. Arts. Sciences. Differences between the Athenians and 
Spartans. Revenues. Romans. Civil divisions. Army. Revenue. Sen- 
ate. Tribunes of the people. Plebeians. Patricians. Master and slave. 
Consuls. Praetors. Censors. ^Ediles. Quaestors. Dictator. Twelve 
Tables. Suits. Religion. Time. Festivals. Downfall of religious 
systems. The Incarnation. The Apocalypse. 

CHAPTER VI. 

The Empire of the Romans to the Triumph of Aurelian 

oyer the Goths 134 

Death of Augustus Caesar. Tiberius. Caligula. Claudius. Nero. 
Galba. Otho. Vitellius. Vespasian. Titus. Domitian. Nerva. Trajan. 
Hadrian. Antonines. Commodus; his character; acts; assassination. 
Pertinax; his melancholy death. Sale of the purple. Julianus. Niger. 
Albinus. Severus; marches to Rome; seizes the sceptre; defeats 



* Eutropius, Bk. VI. ch. xix., xx. 



8 



CONTENTS. 



Niger and Albinus. Praetorian guards abolished. Another corp created. 
Humiliation of the senate. Corruption of the people. Vicious charac- 
ter of the empress. Contentions of Geta and Caracalla. Emperor's 
expedition to Caledonia. Accession of Geta and Caracalla. Geta slain 
by his brother's guards. Murder of Papinian. Caracalla killed. 
Macrinus. Bassianus. Alexander Severus. Maximin. Balbinus. Maxi- 
mus. Gordian III. Rise and fall of Philip the Arab. Defeat of Decius 
by the Goths. iEmilianus. Franks. Goths. Alemanni. Persians. 
Overthrow and imprisonment of Valerian in Persia. Gallienus. Claudius. 
Aurelian; his victory over the Goths. 



Commencement op Reigns. 



1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

5. 

6. 

7. 

8. 

9. 
10. 
11. 
12. 
13. 
14. 
15. 
16. 
17. 



A.D. 

Tiberius 14 

Caligula 37 

Claudius 41 

Nero 54 

Galba 68 

Otho 69 

Vitellius 70 

Vespasian 70 

Titus 79 

Domitian 81 

Nerva 96 

Trajan 98 

Hadrian 117 

Anton. Pius 138 

M. Antonius 161 

Commodus 180 

Pertinax 192 



A.D. 

18. Did. Julianus 193 

19. Septimius Severus 194 

20. Caracalla and Geta 211 

21. Macrinus 217 

22. Elagabalus...., 218 

23. Alexander Severus 222 

24. Maximin 235 

25. Balbinus 237 

26. Gordian III 238 

27. Philip 244 

28. Decius 248 

29. JEmilianus 253 

30. Valerian 253 

31. Gallienus 259 

32. Claudius 268 

33. Aurelian* 270 



CHAPTER VII. 

The Empire of the Romans to its Extinguishment tn 
the West 143 

Murder of Aurelian. Tacitus. Probus. Carus; his wars. Diocletian. 
Division of power. Constantius. Maximian. Galerius. Abdication of 
emperors. Death of Constantius. Accession of Constantine; sole power; 
troubles. Constans. Constantine. Constantius. Division of empire. 
Destruction of the Flavian family. Escape of Gallus and Julian. Con- 
stantius succeeds to the entire empire. Julian. Persian war. Jovian. 
Sallust. Valentinian. Valens. Division of empire. Barbarian inroads. 
Gratian. Valentinian H. Theodosius; his course with the Goths. 
Defeat of Maximus. Arcadius and Honorius. Stilicho. Alaric. Sack 
of Rome. Adolphus. Placida. Attila. Maximus. Sack of Vandals. 
Odoacer. Extinguishment of Western Empire by Theodoric, king of the 
Ostrogoths. 



* Mosheim's Chron. Tables. 



COKTEKTS. 



Commencement op Reigns. 



A.D. 

1. Tacitus 276 

2. Probus 276 

3. Carus 282 

4. Carinus 283 

5. Numerianus 284 

6. Diocletian and colleagues 284 

7. Galerius and colleagues 305 

8. Constantine the Great 324 

9. Constans, Constantine, and Con- 

stantius 340 

10. Julian 361 

11. Jovian 363 

12. Valentinian and Valens 364 



A.D. 

13. Gratian and Valentinian II 375 

14. Theodosius the Great 379 

15. Arcadius and Honorius 395 

16. Valentinian III 425 

17. Maximus 455 

18. Avitus 455 

19. Majorian 457 

20. Libius Severus 461 

21. Anthemius 467 

22. Olybius 472 

23. Julius Nepos 474 

24. Romulus Augustulus 476 



CHAPTER VIII. 

The Empire op the Romans to its Extinction in the 
East by the Ottomans 151 

Death of Arcadius. Pulcheria. Death of Theodosius. Marcian. Leo. 
Rasiliscus. Zeno. Anastasius. Justin. Justinian. Invasion and con- 
quest of Africa by Belisarius. Italy subdued by Belisarius. Narses. 
Justin. Tiberius. Maurice. Phocas. Heraclius; his triumph over the 
Persians. Constantine. Constans. Theodosius. Constantine. Justinian. 
Philippicus. Anastasius. Theodosius. Leo. Constantine. Leo. Con- 
stantine. Irene. Nicephorus. Saturacius. Michael. Leo. Michael. 
Theophilus. Michael. Basil. Leo. Alexander. Constantine. Zoe. Ro- 
manus. Theophano. Phocas. John Zimisces. Basil. Constantine. Zoe. 
Romanus. Michael. Michael. Theophano. Isaac Comnenus. Ducas. 
Romanus. Nicephorus. Alexius. John. Manuel. Alexius. Andronicus. 
Isaac Angelus. Alexius. Alexius. Ducas. Latin conquest. Baldwin. 
Henry. Peter. Robert. John. Restoration of the Greeks. Michael. 
Andronicus. Cantacazune. Manuel. Constantine. Conquest of Otto- 
mans. Prophecy. 

Commencement op Reigns. 



A.D. 

. 408 



1. Pulcheria and ) 

2. Theodosius J 

3. Marcian 450 

4. Leo..., 457 

5. Leo, Basiliscus, Zeno 474 

6. Anastasius 491 

7. Justin 518 

8. Justinian 527 

9. Justin H 565 

10. Tiberius........ 578 

11. Maurice ... 582 

12. Phocas 602 

13. Heraclius 610 

14. Constantine III 641 



A.D. 

15. ConstansH 641 

16. Theodosius, Constantine IV 668. 

17. Justinian n 685 

18. Philippicus 711 

19. Anastasius II 713 

20. Theodosius III 716 

21. Leo III 718 

22. Constantine V 741 

23. Leo IV 



775 

24. Constantine VI 780 

25. Irene 792 

26. Nicephorus 802 

27. Saturacius, Michael 1 811 

28. LeoV 813 



10 



CONTENTS. 



A.D. 

29. Michael II 820 

30. Theophilus 829 

31. Michael III 842 

32. Basill 867 

33. Leo VI 886 

34. Alexander, Constantine VII — 911 

35. Romanus I., Constantine VIII.. 919 

36. Romanus II 959 

37. Nicephorus, Phocas . , 963 

38. John Zimisces, Basil II 969 

39. Constantine IX 1025 

40. Romanus III 1028 

41/ Michael IV 1034 

42. Michael V 1041 

43. Zoe and Theodora 1042 

44. Constantine X 1042 

45. Michael VI 1056 

46. Isaac Comnenus 1057 

47. Constantine Ducas 1059 

48. Romanus III 1067 

49. Michael VII., Constantine XII. 1071 

50. Nicephorus III 1078 

51. AlexiusI 1081 



A.D. 

52. John 1118 

53. Manuel H43 

54. Alexius H H80 

55. Andronicus 1 1183 

56. Isaac II H85 

57. Alexius in 1195 

58. Alexius IV.. 1203 

59. Ducas 1204 

60. BaldwinI 1204 

61. Henry 1206 

62. Peter 1217 

63. Robert 1221 

64. John, Baldwin,.. 1228 

65. Michael Palaeologus 1259 

66. Andronicus II 1273 

67. Andronicus in 1338 

68. John Cantacazune 1347 

69. John Pateologus 1353 

70. Andronicus IV 1390 

71. Manuel 1392 

72. John VI 1425 

73. Constantine Palseologus 1448 



CHAPTER IX. 

The Condition op the Empire of the Romans from the 
Age op Augustus Caesar to its Overthrow by the 
Ottomans 159 

Extent of empire. Army. A legion. A camp. Discipline. Navy. 
Government. Slaves. Arts. Posts. Highways. Commerce. Diocletian. 
Constantine. Magistracy. Roads. Taxes. Constantine's conversion to 
Christianity. The principal persecutions of the Christians. Constantius 
espouses Arianism. Julian changes religion. Civil changes. Tolera- 
tion of Jovian and Valentinian. Valens a persecutor. Theodosius 



destroys Ai'ianism and paganism. 
life. Justinian. Origin of popery, 
lies. Court preferments. Temples. 
Bounds of empire. Income. Silk. 



Arcadius and Honorius. Monastic 

Silk introduced. Taxes. Monopo- 

Laws. Succeeding ages. Heraclius. 

Royal family. Processions. Navy. 



Greek language. Effect of the Latin conquest. 



CHAPTER X. 

The Empire of the Saracens, Turks, and Ottomans from 
its Rise to the Present Times 178 

Mohammed. Flight from Mecca to Medina. Creation of a Feud 
between these places. Conquest of Mecca and Arabia. Abubeker. 
Omar. Othman. AIL Ommiyades. Abbasides. Almanzor. Mohadi. 
Haroon. Rasheed. Al-Maroon. Decline of Saracens. Motassem. Turks. 



CONTENTS. 



11 



Toghrul. Beg. Alp-Arslan. Malek Shah. Monguls. Ottomans. Osman. 
Orchan. Amurath. Bajazet. Mohammed I. Moorad II. Mohammed II. 
Bayezeed. SeUm. Decline of Ottomans. 



Commencement of Reigns. 



A.D. 

Mohammed 622 

Abuheker 632 

Omar 634 

Othman... 643 

All 655 

Moawiyah 661 

Merwan 1 683 

Almanzor 750 

Mohadi 775 

Rasheed 785 

Al-Maroon 813 

Motassem 833 

Motawakkel 847 

Mostanger 861 

Moteyov 866 

Mohtadi Billah 869 



A.D 

17. Moektader 908 

18. Toghrul Beg 1038 

19. Alp-Arslan 1065 

20. MalekShah 1072 

21. Sanjar 1092 

EMPIRE OF OTTOMANS. 

22. Osman 1299 

23. Orchan 1326 

24 Amurath 1359 

25. Bajazet 1389 

26. Mohammed 1 1413 

27. Moorad II 1422 

28. Mohammed II 1451 

29. Bayezeed 1481 

30. Selim 1512 

31. Suleiman 1520 



CHAPTER XI. 

The Neustkian Division of the Empire of the Franks 
to the Death of Louis XII 185 

Clovis destroys the power of the Romans and Visigoths; founds the 
Empire of the Franks. Division of kingdom. Clotaire II. Dagobert; 
successors. Pepin Heristal. Charles Martel. Pepin. Charlemagne 
conquers Italy, Germany, Spain; is declared Emperor of the West. 
Louis. Lothario. Civil wars. Division of empire. Constitutions of 
Mersen. Fall of Carlovingians. Hugh Capet. Robert. Henry. Philip. 
Council of Clermont. Crusade. Peter. Louis VI. English war. Vas- 
sals reduced. Louis VH. Philip Augustus. Louis V1H. Albigenses. 
Louis IX. Philip III. Sicily. Philip IV. The pope. The Templars. Louis 
X. Philip V. Charles IV. Philip VI. War with England. John. Treaty 
of Bretigni. Charles V. Charles VI. Treaty of Troye. Charles VII. Joan 
d'Arc. English conquered. Louis XI. Charles VHI. Louis XH. 

Commencement of Reigns. 



A.D. 

1. Clovis 486 

2. Clotaire 511 

3. Clotaire II 613 

4. Dagobert 632 

5. Pepin 751 

6. Chai-lemagne 771 

7. Louis 814 

8. Lothario 840 

9. Louis H 855 



A.D. 

10. Charles the Bald 875 

11. Louis the Stammerer 877 

12. Louis III 879 

13. Charles the Fat 884 

14. CharlesIII 898 

15. Robert 922 

16. Rodolph 923 

17. Louis the Stranger 936 

18. Lothario 954 



12 



CONTENTS. 



A.D. 

19. Louis V 966 

20. Hugh Capet 987 

21. Robert 996 

22. Henryl 1031 

23. Philip 1060 

24. Louis VI 1108 

25. Louis VII 1137 

26. Philip Augustus 1183 

27. Louis VIII 1223 

28. Louis IX 1226 

29. Philip III 1270 



A.D. 

30. Philip IV 1285 

31. Louis X 1314 

32. Philip of Valois 1328 

33. John 1350 

34. CharlesV 1364 

35. Charles VI 1380 

36. Charles VII 1422 

37. Louis XI 1461 

38. Charles VIII 1483 

39. Louis XII 1498 



CHAPTER XII. 

The Neustrian Division of the Empire op the Franks 
to the Accession op Louis XIV 194 

Francis I. Milan. Quarrel with the Emperor Charles V. Wars. Treaty 
of Crespy. Henry II. War. Treaty of Chateau Cambresis. Francis 
II. Duke of Guise. Catharine of Medicis. League of Bayonne. Civil 
war. Massacre of St. Bartholomew. Death of Charles IX. Henry III. 
Henry IV; means by which he attained the crown. War with Spain. 
Edict of Nantes. Murder of Henry IV. Louis XHI. Civil commotions. 
Cardinal Richelieu. Accession of Louis XTV. 



Commencement of Reigns. 



a.d. 

1. Francis I. , 1515 

2. Henry II 1547 

3. Francis H 1559 

4. Charles IX 1560 



A.D. 

Henry III 1574 

Henry rV 1589 

Louis XIII 1610 

Louis XIV 1643 



CHAPTER XIII. 

The Neustrian Division of the Empire op the Franks 
to the Execution op Louis XVI 203 

War about Brabant. Treaty of Nimeguen. Offensive measures of 
Louis XTV. League against France. War. Treaty of Ryswick. War 
about the Spanish succession. Treaty of Utrecht. Louis XV. Regency. 
John Law. War about Poland. War with Austria. Treaties of Dresden, 
Breslau, Aix-la-Chapelle. French ambition in America and India. War. 
Treaty of Paris. Internal troubles of France. Louis XVI. Notables. 
States-general. War with Austria. Execution of Louis XVI. 



Commencement of Reigns. 



1. Louis XV. 



A.D. 

1714 



2. Louis XVI. 



A.D. 

1775 



CONTENTS. 



13 



CHAPTER XIV. 
The Neustrian Division of the Empire of the Franks to 
the Downfall of Louis Napoleon Bonaparte as Em- 
peror 116 

Foreign war. State of parties. Napoleon Bonaparte. Treaty of Cam- 
po Formio. Fall of the directory. Consulate. Treaty of Amiens. War. 
Treaty of Presburg. Decree of Berlin. Treaty of Tilsit. Acts of Napo- 
leon. Spain. Portugal. Holland. Attack on Russia. Retreat of French. 
Failure in Spain. Leipzig. Elba. Louis XVIII. Irruption of Napoleon. 
Waterloo. St. Helena. Charles X.; causes of his abdication. Louis 
Philippe I. Louis Napoleon Bonaparte as emperor. Republic. 
Commencement op Reigns. 



A.D. 

1. Napoleon Bonaparte 1799 

2. Louis XVHI 1814 

3. CharlesX 1824 

4. Louis Philippe 1 1830 



a.d. 
5. Louis Napoleon Bonaparte 1848 

5. Napoleon III 1852 

6. Republic 1871 



CHAPTER XV. 
The Austrasian Division of the Empire of the Franks 
from the Election of Conrad of Franconia to the 
Death of Maximilian 1 230 

Election of Conrad by the Germanic states. Enumeration of states. 
Henry the Fowler. Otho I. Otho II. Otho III. Henry of Bavaria. 
Conrad. Henry III. Henry IV. Rudolph of Suabia. Henry V. Lotha- 
rio. Conrad. Henry of Bavaria. Guelphs. Ghibellines. Frederick Bar- 
barossa. Henry VI. Contest for the sceptre by Philip. Otho. Fred- 
erick; his success. Interregnum. Rudolph of Hapsburg. Adolphus of 
Nassau. Albert. Henry VII. Intrigues of Louis of Bavaria and Fred- 
erick of Austria. Battle of Muhldorf . Charles IV. Wenceslaus. Rupert. 
Sigismund. John Huss. Jerome of Prague. Albert H. Frederick. 

Maximilian I. 

Commencement of Reigns. 



A.D. 

1. Conrad I 911 

2. Henry 1 919 

3. Othol 936 

4. OthoII ... 973 

5. OthoIII 983 

6. Henry H 1003 

7. Conrad II 1024 

8. Henry III 1039 

9. Henry IV 1056 

10. HenryV 1106 

11. Lothario 1125 

12. ConradSIH 1138 

13. Frederick 1 1152 

14. Henry VI 1190 

15. Philip 1197 



A.D. 

16. Otho IV 1197 

17. FrederickH 1215 

18. Rudolph 1273 

19. Adolphus 1292 

20. Albert 1 1298 

21. Henry VH 1308 

22 Louis 1314 

23. Charles IV 1347 

24. Wenceslaus 1378 

25. Robert 1400 

26. Sigismund 1410 

27. Albert H 1438 

28. Frederick HI 1440 

29. Maximilian! 1493 



14 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

The Austrasian Division of the Empire op the Franks to 

the Present Times 239 

Charles V. Proceedings against Martin Luther. Confession of Augs- 
burg. Emperor's acts against the Protestants. Turkish war. Maurice. 
Peace of Passau. Settlement of diet. Council of Trent. Evangelical 
Union. Catholic League. Controversy as to the duchies. Ferdinand I. 
Edict of Restitution. War. Gustavus Adolphus. Peace of Prague. War 
continued. Peace of Westphalia. Ferdinand III. Leopold. Joseph. 
Charles. Maria Theresa and Francis I. Joseph. Leopold. Settlement 
of Vienna. Francis II. Ferdinand. Francis Joseph I. 

Commencement op Reigns. 



a.d. 

1. Charles V 1520 

2. Ferdinand I.... 1556 

3. Maximilian II 1564 

4. Rudolph II 1576 

5. Mathias 1612 

6. Ferdinand II 1619 

7. Ferdinand III 1637 

8. Leopold I 1658 



A.D. 

9. Joseph 1 1705 

10. Charles VI 1711 

11. Francis I 1745 

12. Joseph II 1765 

13. Leopold II 1790 

14. FrancisII. , 1792 

15. Ferdinand 1835 

16. Francis Joseph 1 1848 



CHAPTER XVII. 

Powers of Europe connected with the Empire of the 
Franks 251 

Denmark. Norway. Sweden. Union of Calmar. Margaret Waldemar. 
Eric. Stene Sture. Christian II. Gustavus Vasa. Eric. John. Sigis- 
mund. Charles IX. Gustavus Adolphus. Christiana. Charles Gustavus. 
Charles XI. Charles XII. Ulrica Elenora. Frederick Gustavus III. and 
IV. Charles XIII. Bernadotte. Oscar. Charles XIV. Prussia. Fred- 
erick in. ; successors. Russia. Peter the Great. Catharine ; successors. 
Spain. Ferdinand and Isabella; successors. Philip II. United Prov- 
inces. Treaty of Breda. Princes of Orange. Louis Bonaparte. Settle- 
ment of Vienna. Belgium. Philip IV. ; successors. Portugal. Denmark. 
Switzerland. The Two Sicilies. Papal dominions. Austrian dominions 
in Italy. Sardinia. 

Commencement of Reigns. 



a.d. 
union of calmar. 

1. Margaret Waldemar 1397 

2. Eric 1412 

3. ChristianH 1513 

SWEDEN, 

1. Gustavus Vasa 1520 

2. Eric 1560 

3. John 1569 



A.D. 

4. Sigismund 1592 

5. Charles IX 1599 

6. Gustavus Adolphus 1611 

7. Christiana 1632 

8. Charles Gustavus 1654 

9. CharlesXI - 1660 

10. Charles XII 1697 

11. Ulrica Elenora. , . , 1719 

12. Frederick Adolphus 1751 



CONTENTS. 



15 



A.D. 

13. Gustavusm 1771 

14. GustavusIV 1792 

15. CharlesXm 1809 

16. Bernadotte 1818 

17. Oscar 1844 

18. Charles XIV 1859 

19. Oscar II 1872 

PRUSSIA. 

1. Frederick William 1 1713 

2. Frederick the Great 1740 

3. Frederick William II 1786 

4. Frederick William in 1797 

5. Frederick William IV 1840 

6. Wilhelml 1861 

RUSSIA. 

1. Peter the Great. 1682 

2. Catharine I 1724 

3. Peter n 1727 

4. Anne 1730 

5. Ivan III 1740 

6. Elizabeth 1741 

7. Peter in 1762 

8. Catharine II 1763 

9. Paul 1796 

10. Alexander 1801 

11. Nicholas 1825 

12. Alexander II 1858 

SPAIN. 

1. Ferdinand and Isabella 1479 

2. Charles I 1516 



A.D. 

3. Philip n. (United Provinces).. 1555 

4. Philip HI 1598 

5. Philip IV 1621 

6. CharlesII 1665 

7. Philip V 1701 

8. Ferdinand VI 1746 

9. Charles HE 1759 

10. Charles IV 1788 

11. Ferdinand VII 1808 

12. Isabella 1833 

13. Amadeus 1871 

PORTUGAL. 

1. John 1 1383 

2. Edward 1433 

3. Alfonso V 1438 

4. John II 1481 

5. Emanuel 1495 

6. John HI , 1521 

7. Sebastian 1557 

8. Henry 1578 

9. Spanish Conquest. 

10. John Duke of Braganza 1640 

11. Alfonso VI 1656 

12. Pedro II 1667 

13. JohnV 1706 

14. Joseph , 1750 

15. Mary 1779 

16. John VI 1792 

Removal of court to Brazil — 1807 

17. Don Maria (Dom Pedro regent) 1826 

18. Louis II 1856 

19. DomPedro 1863 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

The Empire of the Anglo-Saxons to the Fall of Richard 
II 269 

Picts and Scots. Saxons. Angles. Heptarchy. Egbert. Ethel wolf; 
successors. Alfred the Great, the founder of the empire. Danish inva- 
sions. Edward; successors to the division of England with Canute the 
Dane; successors till the time of the Norman invasion. William the 
Conqueror; his successors to Richard II. 

Commencement of Reigns. 



a.d. 

1. Egbert 827 

2. Ethelwolf 838 

3. Ethelbald 857 

4. Ethelbert 860 



A.D. 

5. Ethelred 866 

6. Alfred the Great. 872 

7. Edward 901 

8. Athelstan 925 



16 



CONTENTS. 



A.D. 

9. Edmund 941 

10. Edred 948 

11. Edwy 955 

12. Edgar 959 

13. Edward 975 

14. Ethelred 978 

15. Edmund 1016 

16. Canute.... 1017 

17. Harold 1035 

18. Hardicanute 1039 

19. Edward the Confessor 1041 

20. Harold 1066 



A.D. 

21. William the Conqueror 1066 

22. William H 1087 

23. Henry 1100 

24. Stephen 1135 

25. Henry H 1154 

26. Richard 1189 

27. John 1199 

28. Henry HI 1216 

29. EdwardI 1272 

30. EdwardH 1307 

31. Edward HI 1327 

32. Richard H 1377 



CHAPTER XIX. 
The Empire of the Anglo-Saxons to the Death of James I. 280 

Henry IV. Wickliffe. Henry V. Warwick. Gloucester. Suffolk. 
York. Henry VI. Civil war between the houses of York and Lancaster. 
Edward IV. ; succeeding kings. Mary. Elizabeth. Affairs of Scotland. 
James I. The controversy about prerogative and privilege. 

Commencement of Reigns. 



a.d. 

1. Henry IV 1399 

2. Henry V 1413 

3. Henry VI 1422 

4. Edward IV 1461 

5. Richard HI 1483 

6. Henry VH 1485 



A.D. 

7. Henry VHI 1509 

8. Edward VI 1547 

9. Mary 1553 

10. Elizabeth 1558 

11. James 1602 



CHAPTER XX. 

The Empire of the Anglo-Saxons to the Establishment 
of William Prince of Orange in Power 290 

Charles I. King's debts. Parliament refuses supplies. National 
grievances. Arbitrary taxation. John Hampden. Scotland. Strafford. 
Ireland. The Thirteen Bishops. The Five Members. Civil war. Fair- 
fax. Cromwell. Disagreement between the army and parliament. Ex- 
ecution of Charles I. Navigation Act. Dutch war. Instrument of 
government. The Protector. War with Spain. Richard Cromwell. 
Charles H. Algernon Sidney. Lord Russell. James H. William 
Prince of Orange. Act of Settlement. 



Commencement of Reigns. 



a.d. 

1. CharlesI 1625 

2. Cromwell 1653 

3. Charles II 1660 



A.D. 

4. James n 1685 

5. William and Mary 1689 



CONTENTS. 



17 



CHAPTER XXI. 
The Empire of the Anglo-Saxons to the Present Times. 298 

Toleration. Battle of the Boyne. Conspiracy to restore James II. 
Anne of Denmark. Union with Scotland. House of Brunswick. George 
I. The efforts of the Pretender. Sir John Blount. George II. George 
III. East India Company. Canada. Union with Ireland. George IV. 
William IV. Alexandrina Victoria. 

Commencement op Reigns. 



a.d. 

1. Anne 1701 

2. George 1 1714 

3. George II 1727 

4. George III 1760 



A.D. 

5. George IV 1820 

6. William IV 1830 

7. Alexandrina Victoria 1838 



CHAPTER XXII. 

The United States of America to the Administration of 
the Year 1872 306 

Causes that led to the rupture between the thirteen colonies and Eng- 
land. Revolutionary war. Treaty of Paris. Shays' rebellion. Consti- 
tution. Administrations of Washington. Administration of the elder 
Adams. Administrations of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. 
Treaty of Ghent. Administrations of James Monroe and the younger 
Adams. Administrations of Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren. 
Administrations of William H. Harrison and John Tyler. Administration 
of James K. Polk. Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Administrations of 
Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore. Administrations of Franklin Pierce, 
James Bucbanan, Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, and Ulysses S. 
Grant. 

Presidential Terms. 



a.d. 

1. Washington, two terms.. . . 1789-1797 

2. Adams, sr., one term 1797-1801 

3. Jefferson, two terms 1801 -1809 

4. Madison, " " 1809-1817 

5. Monroe, " " 1817-1824 

6. Adams, jr., one term 1824-1828 

7. Jackson, two terms 1828-1836 

8. Van Buren, one term 1836-1840 

9. Harrison, deceased. Tyler, 

Vice-President, one term 1840-1844 



A.D. 

10. Polk, one term 1844-1848 

11. Taylor, deceased. Fill- 

more, Vice-President, one 

term 1848-1852 

12. Pierce, one term 1852-1856 

13. Buchanan, one term 1856-1860 

14. Lincoln, two terms j 1860-1864 

Johnson, V. P., last term 1 1864-1868 

15. Grant, two terms 1868-1872 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

American Nations connected with Branches of the Em- 
pire of the Franks 327 

Mexico. Independence. Empire. Iturbide. Federal constitution. 
Pedraza. Guerrero. Bustamente. Central government. Santa Anna. 



18 CONTENTS. 

Herrera. Paredes. Farias. Santa Anna; successors. Yucatan. Cen- 
tral States. Brazil. John VI. Dom Pedro I. and II. Paraguay. Argen- 
tine States. Rosas. Urquiza. Peru. Simon Bolivar. Santa Cruz. New 
Granada. Venezuela. Congress of Panama. Colombia. Chili. The 
world's future history. 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

National Progress in Europe and America from the 
Fall of the Empire of the Romans in the West to 
the Present Times 337 

The feudal system. Chivalry. Crusades. Reformations in social sys- 
tem. Discovery of the pandects. Commerce. Literature. The com- 
pass. Navigation. The Portuguese. Columbus. Cortes. Pizarro. Ma- 
gellan. The Dutch. The English. Cabot. Raleigh. Virginia. James- 
town. Maryland. Plymouth. New England. The Carolinas. New York. 
New Jersey. Pennsylvania. Georgia. Russia. France. The Reformation. 
Jesuits. Learning in England. Commerce. English and Dutch in India. 
Colbert. Effect of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Buccaneers. 
The social system. Jansenists. Jesuits. Learning in France and Eng- 
land. Juan. Ulloa. Navigators of all nations. Northern passage. Fur- 
trade. Commerce of Europe. Learning in Europe and the United States. 
American commerce. Inland navigation. Effect of revolutions. The 
quadrant. Electricity. Steam. 



INTRODUCTION, 



The Works of the leading Historians considered 
in connection with empires. 

Time has made sad havoc among many of the ancient 
historians. Mere fragments remain of some of their best 
works. From these, however, the world derives most of 
its knowledge as to the empires which began their exist- 
ence before the Christian Era. 

Diodorus the Sicilian wrote his "Historical Library" in 
the reign of Augustus. When originally complete it con- 
tained forty books; of which only fifteen are extant. In 
the first five there is a minute detail of the manners, cus- 
toms, and laws of the Egyptians and a full account of the 
founding of the First or Assyrian Empire, by Ninus, as well 
as its extent, continuance, division, and final overthrow by 
the Median power. Here there is an hiatus, caused by a loss 
of books; which compels us to look to another source for 
the particulars connected with the Second or Medo-Persian 
Empire. This is fully supplied by Herodotus. The author 
then, in the eleventh book, commences with the expedi- 
tion of Xerxes into Greece and continues on for five books, 
to the beginning of the reign of Philip of Macedon; and in 
the five succeeding books traces the destruction of the 
Second and the formation of the Third or Grecian Em- 
pire, and its divisions for" years after the death of its pro- 
jector, Alexander, commonly styled the Great. 

The distinct manner in which Diodorus narrates the 



20 INTRODUCTION. 

history of the Assyrian or First Empire required, for the 
sake of order, that he should be first noticed; although in 
so doing apparent violence is committed upon the rights 
of the great Halicarnassean who has been for ages most 
properly denominated "the father of history," and to 
whom reference is made at all times with the greatest 
satisfaction. Herodotus was born at Halicarnassus in 
Oaria, B.C. 484. On his arrival at manhood, he left his 
native place and travelled throughout Greece, Scythia, 
Egypt, and the other portions of the world then famous. 
In this manner he collected such information as was cal- 
culated to enable him to form correct ideas of the origin 
and condition of the nations which he visited. After 
this journey he retired to the isle of Samos, where he 
compiled his History. When thirty- nine years of age, he 
recited his composition at the Olympic games. It de- 
lighted the multitudes so much that they bestowed upon 
it the highest evidence of their approbation, by affixing to 
each of the nine books into which it is divided the name 
of one of the muses. Of his merits a more perfect idea 
can be formed by a careful consideration of the general 
design which directed his efforts. This author gives a 
view of the first empire which existed, the Assyrian; of 
its utter demolition; of the second empire, the Medeo- 
Persian, which arose; its youth; its maturity; and of the 
third empire, the Grecian, which was about attaining 
greatness as he closes his narration. His mode of com- 
mencing is a little circuitous, but upon mature reflection 
it will be found to be perfectly natural. After a cursory 
review of the causes of quarrel which brought Persia and 
Greece into war, he very naturally casts his eye over Asia 
Minor, his own country, from its earliest periods. All 
this portion of the world, he says, was once under the 
power of Croesus, the Lydian king. After a full review and 



INTRODUCTION. 21 

description of the people and government, lie proceeds to 
show how domestic feuds brought Croesus into contest 
with his Eastern neighbor, Cyrus of Persia. Upon the 
success of the latter, his dominions being extended to the 
Mediterranean, he becomes, both in the size and the opu- 
lence of his kingdom, the greatest prince in the world. 
Now, says the historian, as the reader is prepared to say, 
" Who is this Cyrus, and by what means did the Persians 
obtain the empire of Asia?" The solution of this question 
involves the historian in a description of the Assyrian 
Empire, which is the first one mentioned by any historian 
or prophet, and forms a coincidence which finds a parallel 
in all the cardinal points of history and prophecy during 
every age of the world; none of which can be accounted for 
by supposing a common design between the historians and 
prophets to deceive, or explained away by asserting that 
the prophecies were written after the histories; inasmuch 
as the former supposition is refuted by the position of the 
prophets and the historians, as well as the chronology of 
their writings, and the latter assertion is disproved by the 
concurrent testimony of the conflicting sects among the 
Jews and the admission of pagan authority. 

The true explanation of the coincidences between his- 
tory and prophecy is to be found in the fact that prophecy 
is the text of God's providence in the events of the world, 
and history is the commentary upon it (Dio. Sic, B. II. c. 
ii.; Josephus, Antiqs., B. IX. c. xi. § 3; Gen. c. ix. vs. 26, 
27; Dan. c. ii. vs. 27, 43; Rev. c. iv. to xxi., inclusive; New- 
ton on the Prophecies, Introd); but in all cases it must 
be borne in mind that prophecy refers more to dynasties 
than to single individuals, and is to be understood more in 
regard to the world's advancement in scientific, moral, 
political, and religious truths than to the agents that Pro- 
vidence uses in promoting them. (New. Dis. i. p. 15.) 



22 INTRODUCTION. 

Broken of its power by the independent position of the 
Medes, the history of that distinguished people is traced 
from the founding of their dynasty by Deioces down to 
the reign of Astyages. The delusions which disordered the 
brain of this monarch are sketched in a touching manner. 
The dreams which excited his jealousy of his daughter 
Mandane; his consultation of the Magi; the marriage of 
his child to the Persian prince, as if to defeat the decrees 
of heayen ; for the same purpose, his removal of her to his 
own court; the birth of her child Cyrus; his preservation 
by the herdsman; his final conquest of Media, and the over- 
throw of his grandfather, are graphically described. In 
reference to all these topics Herodotus, however, candidly 
admits that there are other accounts; but he thinks that 
after the most careful investigation he has obtained and 
given the one most to be relied upon. Xenophon in his 
"Institution of Cyrus" very considerably differs from 
Herodotus. This book, however, was evidently written 
more with a view to inculcate good statesmanship than 
good history. In this respect it accomplishes all its author 
designed, and the reader being put in possession of this 
great prize, pardons the fiction by which it is communi- 
cated. But let the particulars of the birth, education, and 
establishment of Cyrus be what they may, this is asserted 
by Herodotus, that Cyrus was the founder of the Second 
or Medeo-Persian Empire; and in this he is undisputed by 
Xenophon. Having traced Cyrus to the possession of em- 
pire, he follows him through all his progress of conquest 
and government until Babylon, the last fragment of Assy- 
rian power, is made his dependant. "With a far greater 
empire in his possession than was the one which first ex- 
isted in the world, Cyrus, according to this author, sought 
to overwhelm the Massagetae or Turks, a Scythian tribe, 
and in the attempt lost his life. 



INTRODUCTION - . 23 

In the reign of Cambyses, the son and successor of 
Cyrus, the bounds of the empire were extended to Egypt; 
and thus the entire civilized world, as known to the an- 
cients, was embraced within its limits, except Europe — then 
considered but in the inception of refinement. The detail 
of this transaction is preceded by a full and minute de- 
scription of Egypt and its inhabitants from the earliest 
time. As is invariably the case with this author, much 
gossip occurs in his narration; but it is told with an ease 
amounting in most instances to elegance; and in all cases 
he apprises the reader, before proceeding to his narrative, 
whether he is to expect this description of matter or such 
as he avers upon his own knowledge. Herodotus never 
deceives by a false gloss, never deludes by an arrogant 
assertion; if he knows a fact worth telling, he gives it 
truly and at large; if he has merely received it upon the 
information of others, he communicates it in that form. 

This expedition, though fortunate in its primary object, 
was attended by the threefold calamity of the murder of 
Smerdis, the brother of Cambyses, his own death, and the 
usurpation of the Magi. Though the race of Cyrus was 
thus extinguished, his great empire was not doomed to fall 
a prey to the turbulence of faction or the imbecility of his 
unprincipled successors. The cheat of the Magi was soon 
discovered, and the resolution of seven men rid the people 
of their oppressors. Whatever may be thought of the 
arguments which agitated the convention for the settle- 
ment of the state, no one can withhold his approbation of 
the masterly manner in which the historian sketches the 
various forms of government which were proposed. It 
seems, however, at that period of time, the intelligence of 
the people was not sufficient to demand, or the power of 
the aristocracy was great enough to refuse, a republican 
constitution. The result was that (Ebanes, the hostler of 



24 INTRODUCTION. 

one of the conspirators, by causing his horse to neigh before 
those of his conspirators, conferred npon his master the 
sceptre of Cyrus. Thus was brought to power Darius, the 
son of Hystaspes, who first penetrated Europe. To his son 
Xerxes he left the work of laying at once the foundation of 
Grecian greatness and Persian overthrow. The immense 
preparations of this emperor for the invasion of Greece are 
described with an accuracy which is not surpassed in any 
work. Greece and Grecians are delineated from the first 
mention of them in history. The manners, customs, poli- 
tical condition of the rulers, in fine, all the peculiarities of 
the country and people, are set forth with the accuracy of 
one who had seen what he described. With the calamitous 
result of this mighty struggle to Persia and its glorious con- 
sequences to Greece, the history of Herodotus is brought 
to a close. 

Plutarch in his lives of Aristides, Themistocles, Pericles, 
and Cimon fills up about forty-eight or fifty years after the 
Persian invasion. Greece now became the scene of what 
is denominated the Peloponnesian war, which lasted for 
twenty-seven years. Twenty years of this melancholy con- 
test form the subject of the history of Thucydides, which 
the author divides into eight books. In the first book the 
historian traces the Greek states from their commence- 
ment, showing the means by which each attained its 
strength and importance. Corinth, which was the first to 
embark in maritime adventures, is sketched with precision. 
Her colony at the island of Corcyra, it seems, according to 
this author, became in the course of time her rival. The 
bitterest jealousies arose, which eventually ended in lasting 
enmity between the two powers. Their contests disturbed 
the harmony of two centuries and terminated in a furious 
war. Corcyra appealed to Athens for assistance, and 
Corinth threw herself upon the magnanimity of Sparta, 



INTRODUCTION. 25 

the great capital of the peninsular states, formerly called 
the Peloponnesus, in recent times the Morea. Both suc- 
ceeded in bringing into the war these great states of Greece; 
and the remaining seven books contain the incidents of it, 
given with a vigor of description which has elicited uni- 
versal admiration. The work breaks off unfinished in the 
twenty-first year of this war. 

Xenophon takes up the subject in "The Affairs of 
Greece" where Thucydides drops it. The course of the 
war is traced by this writer in his first two books to the 
victory of the Spartans in the sea-fight at iEgos Potamos 
and the subjection of Athens. The overthrow of the 
thirty tyrants in that once powerful capital by Thrasybu- 
lus is then described. Sparta now proceeds to carry war 
into the Persian dominions under Agesilaus, and in the 
midst of its successes the Persian king excites trouble at 
home and raises a third capital in Thebes, which disputes 
the palm of power. Athens in the general confusion re- 
gains much of her importance by means of the exertions of 
Conon. Matters are somewhat arranged by the peace of 
Antalcidas; but under pretext of a clause in this treaty, 
Sparta interferes for some of the cities. Thebes is revolu- 
tionized, and eventually she and the Lacedaemonians are 
thrown into bloody conflict. Two dreadful battles are 
fought, one at Leuctra, the other at Mantinea; and though 
the Theban general, Epaminondas, was slain at the latter, 
that republic was triumphant. The portrait of these 
times cannot be considered perfect unless Plutarch's lives 
of Agis, Agesilaus, Conon, Pelopidas, and Epaminondas be 
consulted. Although not a historian, this author abounds 
in incidents and reflections, which serve admirably to en- 
force and illustrate all history. He died in the one hun- 
dred and fortieth year of the Christian era. 

Xenophon's "Expedition of Cyrus" is indispensable to a 



26 INTRODUCTION*. 

proper understanding of this period of the world. It con- 
tains a full account of the contest between Cyrus and his 
elder brother for the sceptre of Persia; the connection of 
the Greeks with it; and forms a perfect preface to the de- 
signs of the Macedonian Philip and his son Alexander. 

The conflicts which for years rent asunder the states 
of Greece were watched with unceasing anxiety by the 
Macedonian monarch. The ultimate object of his am- 
bition was Persia. To accomplish this, he well knew that 
he must be general of the Grecian forces. Every art, 
every scheme, therefore, was brought to bear to enable 
Philip to sway the destinies of Greece. His success 
finally aroused the ire of Demosthenes, who delivered 
philippic after philippic against the cunning tyrant, and 
was able to form a powerful league to repel his aggressions. 
The army which this brought into the field Philip over- 
powered at Chseronea, and eventually triumphed over all 
opposition. But the dagger of Perdiccas scattered the 
plans of ambition which he had formed. Plutarch's life 
of Demosthenes and the contemporary characters will 
give a full view of the incidents of this period : but 
Diodorus must not be neglected here or afterwards. 

Philip's death placed his son Alexander on the throne. 
By him was the Persian Empire finally destroyed, and his 
almost boundless domains were divided among his prin- 
cipal generals, after his early death; all of whose domin- 
ions were eventually subjected to the Boman or Fourth 
Empire. Arrian is properly the historian of Alexander. 
He flourished about a.d. 140, and was honored with the 
government of Cappadocia by M. Antoninus. His "Ex- 
pedition of Alexander" consists of seven books, written in 
the clear, succinct style of the old historians. Arrian 
commences at the accession of this hero to the throne 
of his deceased father; traces him to the states of the 



INTRODUCTION". 27 

Peloponnesus, whose decree in fayor of him, as the head 
of the army against Persia, he records; notes the dissent 
of Sparta to this action, the sympathy of Athens for the 
policy of that city, but its speedy accession to the Pelopon- 
nesian league, under awe of the power of the young 
Macedonian; carries him back to his own territories, to 
subdue the rebellious Triballi and Illyrians; narrates the 
conspiracy of the Thebans and the overthrow of Thebes; 
the passage of Alexander into Asia ; the battle at the 
Granicus; the conquest or submission of the states of Asia 
Minor, until Alexander arrives at the Straits of Issus, 
where his victory over the army of Darius is described, 
as well as his progress from that place to the ultimate 
limits of his expedition into Egypt and Arabia. The 
final triumph at Gaugamela, or, as it is commonly called, 
Arbela, is delineated, as also Alexander's invasion of 
Scythia on the north and India on the east. Thus pos- 
sessed of power to the Hyphasis on the east, through 
Egypt in the south, to the Tanais on the north, and 
master of Macedon and Greece* in the west, courted by 
both Carthage and Rome,— in a word, enjoying all worth 
the thought or notice of ambition, — Alexander is brought 
back to Babylon, where he dies like the humblest peasant, 
of a dreadful fever. After a minute description of the 
Indian expedition, the division of this vast empire among 
Alexander's generals is given. 

The world was distracted for years with the contentions 
of these men, until the battle of Ipsus divided the pos- 
sessions of Alexander between Cassander in Macedonia, 
Lysimachus in Thrace, Ptolemy in Egypt, and Seleucus 
in Chaldea. Diodorus draws the picture of these distrac- 
tions, along with Plutarch in his lives of Eumenes and 
Demetrius. Lysimachus was killed in a war against 
Seleucus. About two years before he entrusted his treas- 



28 INTRODUCTION. 

ures to Philseterus the eunuch, who, seizing them at 
Pergamus, in Mysia, established a kingdom, over which 
he presided for twenty years. His successors were five. 
The last, Attalus Philomator, left his kingdom to the 
Komans, who expelled by arms the usurper and made it 
a Roman province. The successors of Seleucus, number- 
ing some eighteen or twenty persons, commonly called the 
Seleucidae, held possession of his dominions, or portions 
of them, until the last was conquered and dethroned by 
Pompey and a Roman province established. Cassander 
reigned near twenty years in Macedonia. Upon his death, 
his three sons contested the succession, but all fell by the 
hand of violence. Demetrius, the son of Antigonus, 
obtained the throne, from which he was expelled by a 
league between Ptolemy, Seleucus, and Lysimachus; but it 
finally came to his family, the last of whom, Perseus, was 
conquered by the Eomans, their vengeance having been 
roused by the Macedonians siding with Carthage. Ptole- 
my's race held Egypt till it was subdued by Julius Caesar. 

Livy is the principal Roman historian. His compilation 
originally consisted of 142 books, of which but 35 are 
preserved, though the contents of the whole work, except 
the 37th and 38th books, are extant. He wrote his his- 
tory in the reign of Caesar Augustus. He traces the 
Romans from the time when their progenitor, JEneas, 
with his six hundred companions, landed in Italy, after 
the destruction of Troy; through the sway of kings and 
consuls, tribunes and decemvirs, until they became mas- 
ters of all the Italian states, and gained so much fame 
from having expelled Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, from their 
borders that they stood unrivalled by any power in the 
West but that of Carthage. The offence taken at this 
African capital for its effort to subdue the Mamertines, in 
Sicily, in opposition to the interests of Rome, being pre- 



INTRODUCTION. 29 

sented ; the bloody contests with, it are minutely traced, 
and the results are set out as giving the Romans the 
decided preponderance of power in the West, and a cause 
of quarrel with Macedonia, which brought it Pergamus 
and Egypt as allies, and made Antiochus and Philip 
enemies, and eventually, in the time of Augustus, extended 
its sceptre from Britain to the Caspian Sea. The internal 
commotions of the state are vigorously described, and in 
so close and connected a manner as to render Livy a most 
bewitching author. 

Sallust supplies much matter, of which but an imperfect 
idea can be formed from what remains of Livy. In his 
History of the Jugurthine War a view is afforded of the 
corrupt condition of the Roman nobility after the con- 
quest of the East, and the efforts of the Gracchi to repress 
it. The geography, population, actual condition of Africa, 
incidents of the war, and the means by which Marius and 
Sylla rose to power are given in a succinct but enchant- 
ing manner. Having afforded a key to the characters of 
these men who successively scourged Rome by their ambi- 
tion and cruelty, Sallust, in his Conspiracy of Cataline, 
unfolds one of the darkest plots that ever endangered the 
state or disturbed the peace of society. These two small 
portions of history form an introduction to the operations 
of Julius Caesar of which the world would otherwise be 
ignorant, and thus supply what is wanting from the loss 
of Livy. Sallust died B.C. 33. 

Caesar's Commentaries of his wars in Gaul giye the ac- 
count of his overthrow of the Helvetii or Swiss, who then 
aspired to the sovereignty of all the nations of Gaul; the 
expulsion of the Germans, who had laid it under contribu- 
tion; the flight of the Belgian army; the success of Galba 
in opening a way to Roman merchants over the Alps; 
Caesar's triumph in Venice and Gaul; the triumph of Cras- 



30 INTKODUCTIOI*. 

sus in Aquitaine; the invasion of Britain by the Romans; 
Caesar's success over the Pirustae in Italy and Illyricum; 
over the Treveri in Gaul; over the Britons upon a second 
entrance into their isle; over the nations of Gaul that 
conspired to throw off the Roman yoke; over the Servians 
and the Senones, the Oarnutes and Menapians; and of the 
victory of Labienus, in charge of one of the legions, over 
the Treveri. A description of the manners and customs 
of the Gauls and Germans; of Caesar's second passage over 
the Rhine; of his marches against Ambiorix; and of his 
overthrow of the great confederacy under Vercingetorix 
for the liberation of Gaul, is also afforded. Pansa's con- 
tinuation of the Commentaries shows how Caesar effected 
the final conquest of Gaul, and concludes by opening up 
the causes which led to the Civil War. Caesar's Commen- 
taries of the Civil "War unfold the causes of the quarrel 
between him and Pompey, as well as all the incidents of" 
the contest down to the battle of Pharsalia, in which the 
champion of the aristocracy was crushed and the favorite 
of the people was elevated to the possession of unbounded 
power. Pansa now appears again, and in his Commen- 
taries describes Caesar's reduction of Alexandria and estab- 
lishment of Cleopatra in the sovereignty of Egypt; his 
subjugation of Illyricum and all the states of Asia; his 
overthrow of the Pompeian interest in Africa and Spain. 

Polybius, who died before Christ 124, wrote a general 
history in forty books, only five of which remain, with 
fragments from the sixth to the seventeenth of those lost. 
The first book contains an account of the first Punic war 
and the war of Carthage, after its termination, with its 
mercenaries. Carthaginian progress in Spain, the ad- 
vancement of the Romans in Illyria, the Gallic powers and 
their irruptions, together with the contests of the Grecian 
states, are treated at large in the second book. The 



INTRODUCTION. 31 



causes and particulars of the second Punic war are por- 
trayed in the third, when the affairs of Greece are resumed 
and reviewed in the fourth book. Greece and Asia form 
the subjects of the fifth book. 

Justin is indispensable to a connected view of all the 
historians to the time of Augustus. He compiled his 
work in the reign of the Antonines from a larger one writ- 
ten by Trogus Pompeius, which is lost. It consists of 
forty-four books. From a total ignorance of Jewish an- 
tiquity, this author, in common with many who followed 
him, gives the most absurd account of that nation. 

The empire attained its summit under Augustus Caesar. 
It gradually declined through the influence of luxury, vice, 
sedition, and the inroads of the Northern and Eastern 
nations. In the year a.d. 364 it was finally divided 
between Valentinian and his brother Valens; the latter 
taking the East, the former the West. The West was 
destroyed a.d. 476, though partially restored in a.d. 537 
by the army of Justinian. The Empire of the East fell 
before the Latins a.d. 1203, and was finally destroyed by 
the Turks a.d. 1453. 

The first six books of the Annals of Tacitus describe the 
reign of Tiberius, the successor of Augustus. There is a 
loss of the four succeeding books and also of the fore 
part of the eleventh book, when the author opens after 
Claudius had reigned six years, and concludes in the 
twelfth book with a description of the means by which the 
emperor was poisoned by his wife, whose son Nero was 
placed in power. The guilty reign of this wretch is de- 
scribed in the thirteenth, fourteenth, fifteenth, and six- 
teenth books, but left unfinished by the loss of the latter 
part of the last book. The History of Tacitus narrates 
the elevation and fall of Galba; the rise of Otho, and the 
bloody civil war between him and Vitellius, the issue of 



32 INTRODUCTION. 

which terminated the power of the former and brought 
the latter to the possession of a sceptre, which was soon 
snatched from his hands by Vespasian: the events of whose 
reign are sketched in the fourth book, which is entire, and 
in the fifth book, a greater part of which is lost. A 
very complete idea of affairs in Gaul, Germany, Eome, and 
Judea at this period can be gathered from these sources. 
"The Manners of the Germans" and the "Life of Agri- 
cola" by the same author form to this day the only proper 
introduction to the study of German or English history. 

The compilers of the Augustan History present the lead- 
ing authors on imperial affairs from the time of Augustus 
to the latter part of the sixteenth century. A prominent 
feature in this invaluable collection consists of all that re- 
mains of the writings of Ammianus Marcellinus. The 
work of this remarkable man originally comprised thirty- 
one books; at the present time only eighteen are extant. 
Eutropius wrote a history of the Eoman Empire, which 
concludes at the death of Jovian, a.d. 364. Zosimus lived 
in the fore part of the fifth century. His narrative em- 
braces events from the time of Augustus to that of Alaric, 
a.d. 410. The latter part of his first, the fore part of his 
second, and the conclusion of his fifth book are lost: the 
reign of Dioclesian and the events of the Gothic inroad are 
therefore wanting in this author. The remarks of Zosi- 
mus upon Constantine the Great certainly possess a sever- 
ity which the accounts of contemporaneous writers, both 
Christian and, like himself, pagan, do not justify; still in 
his general narrative of facts he is so concise and clear 
that he becomes an agreeable companion, though not in- 
variably a safe guide. Orosius wrote about the same time 
as Zosimus. Notwithstanding his work is rather argumen- 
tative than historical, it may be consulted with great profit 
by the student. 



INTRODUCTION. 33 

The final condition of the eastern portion of the Roman 
Empire is found in the pages of Procopius, an historian who 
wrote in the reign of Justinian. His principal work con- 
sists of eight books; two give an account of the Persian 
war, two of the Vandal, and four of the Gothic; and it is 
brought down to A.D. 567 by Agathias. The Annals of 
Zonaras bring the history of the eastern portion of the 
Roman Empire to the fore part of the twelfth century, 
a.d. 1119; Nicetas Acominates or Ohoniatus to the com- 
mencement of the thirteenth century, a.d. 1203; Nicepho- 
rus Gregoras to the middle of the fourteenth century, a.d. 
1341; John Cantacuzene nineteen years later, a.d. 1360; 
Laonicus Ohalchondites to the conquest by the Turks in 
a.d. 1453. The substance of these authors is arranged by 
the compilers of the Augustan History; in treating of 
each emperor, and in tracing the affairs of the Franks and 
Ottomans, they are equally careful to form their narratives 
from original sources. 

The Turkish Empire, which triumphed over the eastern 
portion of the Roman power in 1453, dates its origin in 
a.d. 622. At that period Mohammed, after having in 
vain attempted to change the religion of Mecca, in Arabia, 
was compelled to fly with a handful of followers to Medina, 
a town some two hundred miles distant. Here he had 
better success, and soon set up for a temporal prince. In 
the short space of ten years he subdued nearly all Arabia, 
and during the period of thirty years, which covers the 
reigns of his four successors, the empire extended to the 
Oxus and India, the Caspian and Euxine, Africa, Cyprus, 
and Rhodes. Upon the assassination of Ali, the last of 
these khalifs and the son-in-law of Mohammed, the Om- 
myades succeeded and held the sceptre nearly one hundred 
years, when the relations of the Prophet again came to 
power in the descendants of Abbas, his uncle, and de- 



34 ItfTEODUCTION. 

stroyed all the Ommyades except Abd-er-rahman, who was 
established in Spain. By the middle of the eighth century 
these bigots would have overwhelmed Europe by the way 
of the Pyrenees, had it not been for the power of the 
Franks, directed by Charles Martel. The Turkish guards 
which one of the Saracen khalifs created to protect his 
throne eventually seized the sceptre in a.d. 1055; and though 
the Mogul invasion in the thirteenth century destroyed 
the khalifate entirely, Othman, of the Turkish tribe of 
Oghuz, restored the splendor of the empire, after whom it 
is called to this day. 

The narratives of ancient empires cannot be formed 
without resorting to the distorted writers of epochs; but 
the numerous standard works of modern times, in addition 
to furnishing a connected detail of all events of the em- 
pires which sprang from the Eoman powers, afford a refer- 
ence to the authors of each period and kingdom, and thus 
lead the student by gradual but certain steps to the foun- 
tain-head of genuine history. Elmakin gives in his History 
the account of the origin, progress, and dissensions of the 
Saracenic Empire. Ockley's History of the Saracens is 
more accessible, but does not come down so far as Elma- 
kin, though the index will serve to the conclusion of the 
empire. Oantemir's History of the growth and decay of 
the Othman Empire, which concludes in 1683, completes 
the greatness of this remarkable portion of the human 
family. Since that period it has gradually dwindled to its 
present insignificance, and its history is to be more properly 
traced in that of western empires than from any other 
source. 

Much uncertainty prevails among the Roman authors 
as to the origin and organization of the Northern nations 
which destroyed the western division of the Eoman Em- 
pire. A few general statements, however, may be assumed. 



INTKODUCTIOtf. 35 

Germany under its two confederacies,* the Franks and 
Alemanni — or the inhabitants of the lower Rhine and Weser 
and those beyond the Elbe, and their allies to the south as 
far as the western borders of the Rhine — resisted the Ro- 
man arms and harassed the dominions of the empire. The 
Goths, whose origin is variously traced, penetrated Dacia 
and Mysia ; poured their myriad hosts through Greece; 
and, though impeded at times by other barbarians, finally 
uniting with them, swept the Roman Empire in the West 
from existence and established themselves, under various 
names, in Italy, Gaul, and Spain. The Vandal hordes 
finally seized upon Africa. Eventually the Yandals were 
cut off in Africa by the arms of Justinian; and the Goths 
and Alemanni received a fatal blow from Clovis, the head 
of the Franks, who left to his successors, the Merovingians, 
at his death in a.d. 511, a kingdom embracing the country 
between the Garonne and Loire. What Clovis commenced 
was completed by Charlemagne, who in the first year of 
the ninth century was crowned ' ' Emperor of the West" 
at Rome by Pope Leo III. Thus at once was confirmed the 
power of the papacy and healed for a time the breach in 
the branch of the Roman Empire which embraced the 
Western nations of the continent of Europe, f The east- 
ern portion of this dominion, German in its population, 
was called Austrasia; the western part, Romanized Gallic 
in its extraction, was denominated Neustria. The private 
quarrels of the nobles engrossed public attention among 
the Neustrian Franks, till the Crusades, in a.d. 1066, gave 
another turn to affairs. After more than a century of 
warfare, France yielded her sceptre to England in a.d. 
1420, by the treaty of Troye; but recovering from her dis- 

*Kol., 64, 65. Man. Gei\, p. 558, note 3. 1 Gil., 145, 146. 
t Kol., 86. Scott's Com., Rev. xiii. 2-4. 



36 INTRODUCTION. 

grace, maintained her power, under Charles VII., fifteen 
years afterwards. An equally favorable result followed her 
wars with Charles V., from a.d. 1515 to 1554. The strifes 
between the Huguenots and Catholics, though allayed by 
the accession of Henry IV. in 1589, really existed till the 
overthrow of the former, in a.d. 1685, by the revocation 
of the Edict of Nantes. The bloody wars for the conquest 
of Holland; to maintain the pride and tyranny of Louis 
XIV. ; to secure the Spanish succession in the Bourbon 
house; to defeat the title of Maria Theresa to the im- 
perial sceptre; and to destroy the English colonies in North 
America, — all of which were more or less general through- 
out Christendom, — which mark French history, fill up a 
period of one hundred and thirty-one years, from the reign 
of Louis XIV. in a.d. 1643 to the end of that of Louis XV. 
in a.d. 1774. The fearful scenes of the Eevolution are 
then presented, which brought upon the stage Napoleon 
Bonaparte, after which, during a period of thirty-six years, 
the old dynasty was restored and eventuated in the creation 
of the Eepublic of 1848, the first head of which was Louis 
the nephew of Napoleon, who established an empire, and on 
whose downfall the present republic was formed. Lardner's 
Cabinet Cyclopaedia (History: France) is as succinct as any 
that can be consulted and makes constant reference to the 
authors of each epoch, — which may be thus classed: Paris 
and Froissart to the end of the fourteenth century; De 
Comines and Guicciardini to the year 1530; De Thou, Da- 
vila, Sully, and Thuanus to the time of Henry IV. ; and 
Eacine, Brienne, De Eetz, Villars, Noailles, Dumourier, 
De Stael, Thiers, and Blanc to the present time. Henault's 
abridgment will be of incomparable service. 

In 911, the Austrasian Franks or German states, for 
their own protection, formed a confederacy and elected 
Conrad of Franconia emperor. The restraint of the Danes 



INTRODUCTION. 37 

and Huns; the regulation of the affairs of the popedom; 
and the consequent operations in Italy, form the lead- 
ing features of the history of this empire to a.d. 1072, 
when the emperor Henry IV. became involved in a thirty 
years' war about the supremacy of the papal power. The 
Crusades and civil commotions fill up the period to the 
elevation of Eudolph of Hapsburg in a.d. 1273. The im- 
portance of the Austrian house dates from this reign, and 
from a.d. 1438 it has been almost without intermission in 
the enjoyment of imperial authority. The accession of 
Charles V. in 1520 and the commencement of the Infor- 
mation about the same time were eras from which sprang 
the great contests that occupy European history for the 
succeeding century. A struggle with the Turks then en- 
sued; towards the conclusion of which the empire was 
brought into a deadly feud with France, the history of 
which is to a greater or less extent connected with that 
power till the treaty of Vienna, in a.d. 1815. Kohlrausch 
brings his history of this empire down to that time, and 
his ample references to original authors and his agreeable 
style render him a safe and entertaining guide. Cox's His- 
tory of the House of Austria will serve to facilitate the la- 
bors of the student in acquiring a correct account of this 
branch of empire. 

The power of the Germans extended to all the Northern 
countries, though the authority of the emperor was not 
directly exercised over them. Hence it is evident in the 
contest with Albert, who was expelled from Sweden in a.d. 
1389; and when by the treaty of Calmar, seven years after- 
wards, the sceptres of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden de- 
volved upon Margaret Waldemar, and finally upon her 
grand-nephew, Eric of Pomerania, it was no less marked. 
In the reign of Christian L, which commenced a.d. 1457, 
it is asserted that the municipal offices were so filled with 



38 INTRODUCTION". 

Germans that a Swede could obtain nothing unless he 
chose to be a beadle or a gravedigger. The settlement of 
the crown in the house of Vasa, in a.d. 1544, put an end 
to this state of things, and the reign of Gustavus Adolphus, 
which began a.d. 1611 and ended A.D. 1632, made the 
power of Sweden more important in the empire of the 
Germans than theirs had ever been in Sweden. Nor was 
it less distinctly marked in the reign of Charles XII. in 
developing, in a.d. 1700, the genius and resources of Peter 
the Great of Eussia, whose fifth successor acted such an 
important part in bringing about the treaty of Vienna. 
Geijer's Sweden, together with the French, German, and 
English authors cited, afford ample information on all these 
kingdoms, so far as they are connected with the general 
course of events. 

Spain, the southern portion of the empire of Charle- 
magne, never assumed more importance than any other 
kingdom of a similar stamp until the latter part of the 
fifteenth century, when the discoveries of both it and 
Portugal in the East and West gave them a commanding 
influence in the affairs of the world. The wars to reduce 
the United Provinces, the wars of Louis XIV., and the 
revolutions of the present century in South America and 
Mexico have quite reduced the condition of this peninsula 
to what it was when but a member of the empire of 
Charles the Great. Prescott's Ferdinand and Isabella, 
Eobertson's Charles V. and America, Watson's Philip II., 
and the authors to be cited on English history, afford the 
prominent events of this section of empire. As each 
American power is reviewed, the authorities will be 
noted. 

In less than a century (a.d. 872) after Charlemagne re- 
established the Empire of the West, Alfred, having driven 



INTRODUCTION. 39 

the Danes from the island of Great Britain, laid the 
foundation of the Anglo-Saxon Empire. In a.d. 1066, 
William Duke of Normandy became its sovereign. Henry, 
the second son of this line, acquired Normandy and in- 
volved himself in a war with France. His only child, Ma- 
tilda, he married to Geoffrey Plantagenet, son of the Duke 
of Anjou, by whom she had a son named Henry. On her 
father's death, Stephen Count of Boulogne, grandson of 
the Conqueror, contested her right of succession, and a 
bloody civil war followed. Her son coming of age, entered 
England, and a decisive battle would have taken place had 
not a treaty settled the matter by permitting Stephen to 
hold the sceptre during life, when the young Henry was to 
succeed. His reign was embittered by a controversy with 
the Church, incited by Thomas a Becket, but it is famous 
for the improvements in the arts and sciences, literature 
and laws. His two successors involved everything in con- 
fusion, which brought on a contest that was settled at 
Eunnymede, a.d. 1215, by King John signing Magna 
Charta, the bulwark of English liberty. He and his sons 
disregarded this solemn instrument, which created a civil 
war, in which the third Henry was successful; but peace 
was restored by the triumph of Magna Charta under the 
first Edward. In this reign the contest raged with the 
Scots, and the House of Commons originated (a.d. 
1295). The third Edward's reign brought on the wars 
with France which were so glorious to the arms of Eng- 
land. The attention is now arrested by the causes and 
the course of the civil wars between the houses of York 
and Lancaster, which terminated in a.d. 1484 in the fall 
of the Plantagenets and the rise of the Tudors under 
Henry VII. Five reigns, including this king, brought 
the house of Stuart into power in a.d. 1601, the first 



40 INTRODUCTION". 

member of which was James First of England, the Sixth 
of Scotland. The high notions of James on kingly power 
and ecclesiastical authority involved him with the popu- 
lar or Puritan party, in opposing which his son Charles I. 
lost his life. The Commonwealth succeeded, with Oliver 
Cromwell at its head. Upon the failure of the movement 
by the death of its chief, the son of the decapitated mon- 
arch, Charles II., was reinstated in power (a.d. 1660). 
The tyranny of this king and his brother James II. pro- 
duced the fall of the house of Stuart, in 1688, and the Act 
of Settlement, by which the son-in-law of James II., 
William of Orange, and his wife, came to the sceptre, 
and after Anne of Denmark the house of Brunswick, 
which is now in possession of power. There is no branch 
of the history of empires upon which as many good his- 
torians can be produced as on this. The succeeding 
reference, therefore, is made with great deference and is 
not to be considered as exclusive. Hume, Smollett, and 
Bisset read in connection with NealPs History of the Puri- 
tans, D'Aubigne's Protector, Carlyle's Letters of Cromwell, 
Eobertson's History of Scotland, and Macaulay's History 
of England will give the student as correct a view of this 
empire as books can confer. Upon recent Europe, Alison 
should be studied. The original authors can be consulted 
in this order: to the end of Stephen's reign, Gildas, Bede, 
William of Malmesbury; to the conclusion of the reign of 
Henry III., Hoveden, Diceto, Mathew Paris, Brompton, and 
Fitz Stephens; to the death of Henry V., Froissart and 
Walsingham; and to the present age, Polydour Vergil, 
Hall, Hollinshed, More, Stowe, Speed, Baker, Clarendon, 
Neall, Burnet, Eapin, Coote, and Alison. 

The genius of Europe discovered and the convulsions of 
Europe peopled America. The courage and wisdom of 



INTRODUCTION. 41 

the first settlers and their descendants laid the foundations 
of mighty states. The first to strike the blow effectually 
were the thirteen Anglo-Saxon colonies, which from a pop- 
ulation of three have increased to over forty millions. 
The settlement and colonial condition of North and South 
America may be collected from Holmes' Annals, Bancroft's 
and Hildreth's History of the United States, and Marshall's 
Introduction to the Life of Washington. The Revolution- 
ary struggle of the United States is traced in Ramsay's 
History of that war; and Marshall's and Irving's Life of 
Washington not only contain the matter of that author, 
but bring down the history of the Republic to the conclu- 
sion of Washington's administration. Hildreth and Ab- 
bott will keep up the connection to the present period. 
The Rebellion is taken from the author's notes. The com- 
monly received chronological tables have been followed 
throughout the work, except that the calculation is made 
from the creation to the birth of Christ, on the supposition 
that four thousand and four years transpired between these 
eras. In all researches into the origin of our race, its 
gradual enlargement through the various stages of patri- 
archal and national existence, the rise of four and the 
downfall of three empires, it will be found that no one 
book furnishes so constant a clue to the diffuse narratives 
of the ancient historians as the Sacred Scriptures. Passing 
from the historical portions of the divine record to those 
of a prophetical character, with some temperate and learned 
works like those of Newton and Scott as a guide, a force 
will be perceived in ancient and modern history of which 
it is destitute when studied in any other method. The in- 
vestigation of history on a different principle is to tax the 
memory to its utmost tension, merely to obtain a dry de- 
tail of curious annals; but studied in the manner suggested, 



42 ISTTKODUCTIOK. 

it steadily presents as the objects of contemplation the at- 
tributes and providence of God, the evolution of empires, 
and the accomplishment of the scheme of redemption, the 
rewards of virtue and the punishment of vice, — sublime 
truths which are calculated to enlighten the understanding, 
to purify the affections, and consequently to advance the 
best interests of mankind. 



Outline Evolution 

of 

EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE EMPIRE OE THE ASSYRIANS. 

The first empire was founded by Ninus, king of Assyria.* 
Determined to subdue Asia from the Tanais to the Nile, 
Ninus associated with himself the prince of Arabia, and, 
raising a large army, in the space of seventeen years made 
himself master of the Babylonian district, Media, Armenia, 
Egypt, Phoenicia, Celo-Syria, Oilicia, Pamphylia, Lycia, 
Caria, Phrygia, Mysia, Lydia; the provinces of Troas and 
Phrygia on the Hellespont, together with the Propontis; 
Bithynia, Oappadocia, and all the nations on the Pontus, 
as far as the Tanais; the Cadducians, Tarpyrians, Hyrcan- 
ians, Dacians, Derbians, Oarmanians, Ohoroneans, Borcha- 
nians, and Parthians. He also penetrated into Persia and 
the nations in the Caspian straits; founded Nineveh; and 
subdued Bactria. Semiramis, his queen, bore him a son, 
whom he named Ninyas. At the death of Ninus, the son 
being young, his mother became regent. 

* Jus., p. 19, note; Bk. I. ch. i., ii., iii. Dio. Sic, Bk. II. ch. i., 
ii. pp. 54, 65. Orosius, Bk. II. ch. i., iv. 



44 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

The famous city of Babylon was built during the reign 
of Semiramis. * Its foundations were laid upon a spacious 
plain, in the form of a square, surrounded by a wall three 
hunded feet in height and wide enough to allow from two 
to six chariots to be driven abreast upon it. The wall was 
made of bricks cemented together by bitumen, a tenacious 
substance peculiar to the country. A trench was sunk 
around the wall; an idea of the depth and width of which 
may be inferred from the fact that the earth taken out of 
it composed the bricks of the wall. Towers adorned the 
wall, and twenty-five brass gates, open by day, presented 
as many streets, which ran the length and breadth of the 
city, intersecting each other at right angles. Around the 
squares were ranged the buildings, rising to the height of 
three and four stories, but extending to such a depth as 
left an interior space open for ventilation. The river 
Euphrates passed from the north to the south through the 
centre of the city. On each side of it walls were erected, 
of the same materials as those which encompassed the capi- 
tal. At each street archways were constructed, in which 
brazen gates were placed, whence steps projected to the 
edge of the river, to enable the citizens to enter barges as 
convenience or pleasure suggested. 

The Euphrates was drained of its waters and a tunnel 
cut beneath its bed. At the opening of the tunnel stood 
the old palace, a building of immense proportions. At 
its outlet, on the opposite side, a new structure was erected, 
designed for imperial purposes. It occupied nearly eight 
miles. The palace was surrounded by walls ornamented 
with every species of device expressive of daring exploits. 

The Temple of Belus was erected near the old palace. 
A tower stood within it, half a mile in compass and a 

* Herodotus, Clio, 178, 183. 



THE EMPIRE OF THE ASSYRIANS. 45 

furlong in height, from which as a base rose seven other 
towers. The ascent to the top was by a winding stair- 
case on the outside of the edifice, which circled it several 
times. In each story spacious rooms were finished in the 
most elegant style and ornamented with the richest gems 
which Eastern splendor could command. Over the whole 
establishment was formed an observatory, which afforded 
to the Babylonians an opportunity of perfecting themselves 
in the science of astronomy. 

Excellent as were the uses to which this portion of the 
temple was devoted, its other apartments were prostituted 
to the worship of various heathen deities, the principal of 
which was the god Baal. Age after age these chapels were 
the repositories of precious gifts, which the superstition of 
thousands prompted them to offer, until the accumulation 
of wealth was immense. This prize remained untouched, 
amidst all fluctuations, down to the time of Xerxes.* 

The canals and lake were projected at a later period, to 
protect the capital against the rapacity of the Medes.f 
During the winter months the adjacent mountains of 
Armenia were covered with snow. When the spring ar- 
rived this immense mass dissolved and poured down its 
streams into the Euphrates. The torrent broke in the 
summer through all bounds, forced the banks of the river, 
and flooded the low country. Canals were made, which 
turned the waters of the river so often as to destroy its 
force and to render its navigation difficult. A lake four 
hundred and twenty furlongs in circumference was con- 
structed, where the waters were pent up, and by means of 
locks and outlets distributed, as occasion demanded, for 
the purpose of fertilizing the country. Thus did these 



* Herodotus, Clio, 183. Judges vi. 28. 2 Kings x. 28; xvi. 10, 16. 
f Herodotus, Clio, 185. 



46 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIEE AND PEOPHECY. 

works answer the double purpose of protecting the inhabi- 
tants of the city and enriching those of the plain. 

The luxuriousness of still later times suggested and 
caused to be executed a work which elicited much admira- 
tion. It was denominated the hanging garden. This was 
formed by large projecting terraces, one above another, at 
a distance of about ten feet, ascending round the walls of 
the palace; each terrace forming a square of four hundred 
feet and connected with the one above it by steps. The 
fabric was made permanent by arches durably formed and 
surrounded by a wall twenty-two feet in thickness. So 
firmly constructed was the work that in the garden were 
reared not only all kinds of shrubbery, but trees of the 
largest size. 

Semiramis did not rest her fame solely on stupendous 
monuments of art. Her celebrity in arms rivals, if it does 
not surpass, that of her husband. Sprung from an obscure 
origin, she resolved to obliterate the recollection of it, in 
the minds of her subjects, by the splendor of her actions. 
Immense and opulent as were the domains left her by 
Ninus, she added to them on all sides. In the south she 
penetrated as far as Ethiopia, and established there the 
imperial authority. Emboldened by her success in this 
quarter, she determined on an invasion of the rich coun- 
tries of the East. An immense army was raised and de- 
parted on the expedition. When the empress approached 
India, its monarch sent an embassy to demand her reason 
for invading his territories without provocation. The brief 
reply which she gave was that in a little time he should 
have a trial of her valor by her actions. Battle was joined 
at the Indus, and Semiramis was victorious: but follow- 
ing up this advantage by too-rapid marches, the Indians 
rallied, and she was defeated. Making good her way to 
the place on the river where she had crossed, Semiramis 



THE EMPIRE OF THE ASSYRIANS. 47 

effected a retreat to her own empire, having lost about 
two thirds of her army. This calamity was followed by 
one of a still more serious description. Ninyas, her son, 
aspired to the sceptre, and plotted to wrest it from her 
hand. The empress declined a contest with her offspring; 
and after a reign of forty-two years, withdrew from public 
affairs. 

With the accession of Ninyas, the policy of government 
was altered. Dreading that he might fall by the same 
means through which he acquired power, the emperor 
adopted a system of military proceedings the tendency of 
which was to counteract the schemes of ambition. The 
various divisions of the army were filled by levies from the 
provinces, which, under the new arrangement, were made 
so constantly that the entire body was composed of a new 
set of men every succeeding year. The commander-in- 
chief was the only person who was not affected by this 
scheme; but his influence was rendered nugatory by reason 
of the limited time the soldiers were subject to his order. 
A system whose avowed object was fluctuation, though well 
calculated to prevent conspiracies, was equally as fatal to 
military enterprise. The period of its establishment is that 
from which to date the decline of the empire. Thirty suc- 
cessive generations, extending through a space of over 
eleven hundred years,* produced none but debased princes. 
The last of them was Sardanapalus. Abstracting himself 
from the society of men, he spent all his time among the 
women of the seraglio, applying his attention to the distaff, 
dressing and painting himself to please his companions. Re- 
bellion ensued. Two powerful leaders assumed the com- 
mand. Sardanapalus at first shunned the contest, but when 
forced into it he met the insurgents and triumphed over 



Oros., Bk. XL ch. i., xii. 



48 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

them in three successive engagements. The leaders of the 
rebellion, made desperate by these defeats, prepared to 
hazard all in one effort, and falling upon the emperor, 
defeated his forces after a bloody conflict. Mortified at 
the success of his enemies, Sardanapalus fled to Nineveh. 
In that city he was besieged for two years. 

In the third year of the siege the river was so swelled by 
continual rains that it overflowed part of the city and 
broke down the walls for twenty furlongs, when the king, 
thinking the prophecy fulfilled which had been written, 
according to Josephus, one hundred and fifteen years be- 
fore, built a funeral-pile in the palace, and collecting his 
companions and treasures, burnt them, and perishing him- 
self in the conflagration, the besiegers took the city.* 

Thus fell the Assyrian Empire, which had for thirteen 
centuries oppressed the nations and at the time of its over- 
throw held captive the ten tribes of Israel. He who next 
succeeded to empire was pre-eminently the subject of 
prophecy. 

How impressive are the words of Nahum in predicting 
the fate of Nineveh and the Assyriam Empire! 

"Woe to the bloody city! it is all full of lies and rob- 
bery. . . . And it shall come to pass, that all they that 
look upon thee shall flee from thee, and say, Nineveh is 
laid waste: who will bemoan her? . . . The fire shall 
devour thee; the sword shall cut thee off, it shall eat 
thee up as the canker-worm. . . . Thy shepherds slumber, 
king of Assyria: thy nobles shall dwell in the dust: thy 
people is scattered upon the mountains, and no man 
gathereth them. There is no healing of thy bruise; thy 

*Dio. Sic, Bk. II. ch. ii. Nahum i., ii., iii. Josephus' Antiqs., 
Bk. IX. c. xi. § 3. Newton on Prophecies, Dis. 9. 2 Kings 
xviii. 9-12. 



THE EMPIKE OF THE MEDES AND PERSIANS. 49 

wound is grievous: all that hear the bruit of thee shall 
clap the hands over thee: for upon whom hath not thy 
wickedness passed continually ?" 



CHAPTER IL 

THE EMPIRE OF THE MEDES AND PERSIANS. 

After the independence of the Medes, their affairs fell 
into confusion. The tribunals of justice became corrupt; 
men in all departments practised oppression; and that 
spirit which effected the national liberation ceased to 
animate the people. This state of things fired the ambi- 
tion of Deioces. An obscure judicial circuit was occupied 
by him at the commencement of his career. Great pro- 
priety in the discharge of his duties secured public confi- 
dence. His spotless character gradually attracted the people 
in the surrounding districts. Suitors voluntarily submitted 
their causes to his arbitrament. Such was his fame that 
his judgments, though local in form, possessed the force 
of national law. In the midst of this prosperity, the judge 
suddenly withdrew from the bench, alleging that his 
attention to public pursuits compelled him to neglect his 
own interests. The abdication of the patron of order 
produced that scene of misrule which Deioces had antici- 
pated. A national assembly was soon convoked to provide 
for the exigencies of the times. In this body Deioces 
had his minions. Concealing their personal predilections, 
they procured a declaration in favor of monarchical govern- 
ment, as well as a vote that he was the most proper per- 
son for its administration who had rendered the greatest 
amount of public services. The name of Deioces was then 



50 OUTLIKE EVOLUTION OE EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

put forward, and he was chosen king by unanimous 
consent. 

The first act of this reign was the building of the 
capital, Ecbatana. This city was surrounded by seven 
circular walls, "each rising above each, by the height of 
their respective battlements." "Within the last of these 
stood the palace and treasury. Each wall was of a different 
color — the first white, the next black, the third purple, 
the fourth blue, the fifth orange; whilst the battlements 
of the two innermost were plated, one with silver, the 
other with gold. The people were compelled to live beyond 
the walls surrounding the palace. This was but a prelude 
to that despotism which was to be established. An edict 
was proclaimed which interdicted all communication 
between the sovereign and his subjects except through 
duly constituted ministers and in cases hereafter noted. 
All the actions of these officials were directed with pre- 
cision by the terms of the law: they were not allowed so 
much as to spit in each other's presence or in the presence 
of the king; any violation of the rule being punished with 
the severest penalties. Causes involving the rights of pri- 
vate property or persons were submitted to the sovereign 
in a written statement, upon which he endorsed his judg- 
ment. Infractions of public law were treated differently. 
The criminal was arrested by spies, whom the king always 
kept in his service, and brought immediately to his pres- 
ence, where such punishment was inflicted as his sense of 
justice or impulse of vengeance at the time happened to 
dictate. 

On the death of Deioces, his son Phraortes succeeded to 
the throne. The son determined to use the power which 
the father had acquired for the enlargement of his domin- 
ions. Accordingly, the Persians were not only made tribu- 
tary, but degraded. Many nations of Asia were subdued. 



THE EMPIRE OF THE MEDES AND PERSIANS. 51 

Victorious in every invasion, Phraortes resolved upon the 
conquest of Nineveh. After great preparations, hostilities 
were commenced; but while in progress, the king, with the 
greater part of his army, was destroyed. His son Cyaxares 
inherited the throne and possessed all the valor and ambi- 
tion of his father. A more thorough system of discipline 
was adopted, and the army accordingly divided into com- 
panies of spearmen, cavalry, and archers. The Lydians, a 
powerful nation of Asia Minor, were attacked. An eclipse 
of the sun, in the heat of battle, suggesting to the super- 
stitious minds of the combatants the impropriety of the 
contest, it was abandoned as one offensive to Heaven. 

Cyaxares resolved to accomplish the work in which his 
father and so many of his subjects had fallen. Its vast- 
ness, however, required much caution. Alliances were 
accordingly formed with all the tribes beyond the Halys. 
Thus provided, the king undertook the expedition. The 
Assyrian forces met him some distance from the capital 
and a bloody battle was fought, in which the Mede was 
victorious. Nineveh was now besieged with great vigor. 
But the bright prospects of Cyaxares were suddenly 
blasted by the unexpected appearance of a large army of 
Scythians under the command of the intrepid Madyas. 
Compelled by the poverty of their own soil to seek a sub- 
sistence in foreign climes and allured by the luxuriance of 
Asia, these pillagers seized all the lands held by the Medes. 
During thirty years they plundered at will. Exaction so 
full of outrage finally roused the vengeance of the oppressed. 
An opportunity for revenge was afforded at a feast. Here 
the Scythians became intoxicated and the Medes put them 
to an indiscriminate slaughter. Having by this means 
regained his power, Cyaxares directed his efforts towards 
the subjugation of Nineveh, and not only captured it, but 
conquered all the Assyrians, except those within the 



52 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PKOPHECY. 

Babylonian precincts. Crowned with glory, the reign of 
Cyaxares terminated.* Astyages, his son, was invested 
with the sceptre. Unlike his predecessor, he was wholly 
occupied by domestic ills. A vision which portrayed the 
happy destiny of Mandane, his daughter, filled the mind 
of the king with the most fearful apprehensions. As if to 
defeat the decree of Heaven, he married his child to the 
Persian king. Another dream disturbed his mind. The 
Magi were consulted, and their interpretation betokened 
evil. The condition of Mandane suggested to her heart- 
less parent an expedient by which he might avert his 
anticipations. The daughter was ordered to repair to her 
father's palace, and she complied with the mandate unin- 
jured. Mandane was soon afterwards delivered of a child, 
whom she named Cyrus. Determined to destroy the 
infant, the king committed the execution of the deed to 
Harpagus, his minister. Harpagus communicated the 
design of Astyages to his wife. Whether from horror at 
the atrocity of the act or the dread of discovery by the 
populace, she dissuaded her husband from executing the 
king's order, suggesting to him to commit the child to the 
custody of one of the monarch's servants. A herdsman 
was selected whose habitation was on the mountains near 
the Euxine. To him was the child given, under an in- 
junction from the minister that he was to be destroyed 
by wild beasts or exposure to the weather. Female tender- 
ness saved the future sovereign of the East. The herds- 
man's wife had been delivered in his absence of a dead 
child. When the fearful mission of her husband was com- 
municated to her, she induced him to take the dead child, 
arrayed in the costly robes of the living one, and cause it 

* Herodotus, Clio. Justin, Bk. I. chs. iv. to viii. Xen., Cyro- 
psedia. 



THE EMPIRE OF THE MEDES AND PERSIANS. 53 

to be exposed upon the mountain-heights. In a few days 
the shepherd reported to the minister the execution of his 
sovereign's command. Snatched from an untimely death, 
Cyrus found a mother in the herdsman's wife. Humble 
as was his lot, it was nevertheless calculated to develop 
those powers with which God had endowed him in a 
pre-eminent degree. At the early age of ten his play-fel- 
lows chose him their king. One of his subjects resisted his 
authority. Cyrus forced him into obedience. The rebel 
was the son of a Mede of distinction, who was offended at 
this indignity to his child and immediately complained to 
Astyages. The monarch directed the herdsman to pro- 
duce the young offender. When Cyrus appeared before 
the king, he avowed his right to act as he had done, 
affirming that he was prepared to endure all consequences. 
Struck with this declaration, as well as the manner in 
which it was uttered, and revolving in his mind the age and 
the general appearance of the boy, the sovereign was con- 
vinced he had been deceived by Harpagus or the herdsman. 
The palace was accordingly cleared and the latter com- 
pelled to confess the truth. Astyages pretended to be 
satisfied, but determined to revenge himself upon the 
minister, and accomplished his purpose shortly after by the 
murder of his only son. Having thus sated his vengeance, 
the king sought to secure himself against the infant object 
of his jealousy. The Magi being consulted, they came to 
the conclusion that no danger was to be feared from Cyrus. 
The king no longer dreading his daughter's son, he was 
committed to the training of his parents in Persia. Here 
this remarkable youth rapidly increased in those mental 
and bodily qualifications calculated to fit him for the dis- 
charge of the trusts which God was about to devolve upon 
him. His grandfather was declining in years and dis- 
gusting his subjects. Stung by the king's cruelty in the 



54 OUTLIKE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

murder of his son, Harpagus did his utmost to increase 
the general discontent and privately counselled Cyrus to 
provoke a revolt in Persia, assuring him that he would 
surrender the army to him. Such a prospect impelled 
the young Persian to exert all his arts upon his country- 
men. A rebellion was eventually produced. Cyrus con- 
ducted the Persians against his bloodthirsty kinsman, and 
Harpagus, true to his promise, surrendered the forces of his 
sovereign. With Astyages terminated the sole race of 
Median kings; and with Cyrus and his uncle, generally 
called Darius the Mede, commenced a new dynasty. 

A rising fame always begets enmity. The greatness of 
Cyrus excited the envy of Croesus, king of Lydia, the 
wealthiest prince of Asia. Eesolving to curb the ambition 
of his rival, the Lydian formed alliances with the Grecian 
states and prepared for war. Having collected a large 
army, he crossed the Halys, and a battle was fought on the 
plains of Pteria. Neither party had any cause for exulta- 
tion. Croesus shortly afterwards removed his forces to 
Lydia. He was now guilty of an indiscretion which 
admits of no apology. Under the impression that Cyrus 
would not pursue the war until the following spring, the 
mercenaries were dismissed. Arrangements were made 
with Assyria, Egypt, and Greece for the supply of soldiers 
at that time. Taking advantage of this oversight, Cyrus 
marched immediately into the territories of the Lydian, 
routed his army, subdued his capital, captured his person, 
and made his dominions a portion of the Persian Empire. 

Nothing prevented Cyrus from grasping the sceptre of 
Asia but Babylon. The conquest of this city was no easy 
task. Determined upon its reduction, the Persian monarch 
was not to be driven from his purpose. The northern 
territories of his enemies were first subjugated; then the 
proud capital was encompassed by the Persian armies. 



THE EMPIRE OF THE MEDES AND PERSIANS. 55 

Every scheme which military experience could devise was 
applied in vain. As a last resort, the Persian directed the 
Euphrates to he drained; the gates in its bed being left 
open by the presumptuous Assyrians, Cyrus and his army 
entered at the hour of midnight, and the ancient capital 
fell into the hands of the Persian, who restored the Jews 
held captives in it to their native land: these events 
having been predicted by Isaiah over a century prior to 
the birth of the conqueror, and by Jeremiah more than 
seventy years before their occurrence. 

No writers could be more explicit than are Isaiah and 
Jeremiah in regard to the advancement of Cyrus and the 
overthrow of Babylon : 

" Remember these, Jacob and Israel ; for thou art my 
servant : I have formed thee; thou art my servant : 
Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of me. 

"I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, 
and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me ; for I have re- 
deemed thee. Sing, ye heavens ; for the Lord hath done 
it : shout, ye lower parts of the earth: break forth into sing- 
ing, ye mountains, forest, and every tree therein: for the 
Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified himself in Israel. 

" Thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, and he that formed 
thee from the womb, I am the Lord that maketh all things; 
that stretcheth forth the heavens alone ; that spreadeth 
abroad the earth by myself ; that frustrateth the tokens of 
the liars, and maketh diviners mad ; that turneth wise men 
backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish ; that con- 
firmeth the word of his servant, and performeth the coun- 
sel of his messengers ; that saith to Jerusalem, Thou shalt 
be inhabited ; and to the cities of Judah, Ye shall be built, 
and I will raise up the decayed places thereof : that saith 
to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers : that saith 
to Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my 



56 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

pleasure : even saying to Jerusalem, Thou slialt be built ; 
and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid/' (Isaiah 
xliv. 21-28.) 

"Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose 
right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him ; 
and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the 
two-leaved gates ; and the gates shall not be shut ; I will go 
before thee, and make the crooked places straight : I will 
break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars 
of iron : and I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and 
hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that 
I, the Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the God of 
Israel. For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I 
have even called thee by thy name : I have surnamed thee, 
though thou hast not known me." (Isaiah xlv. 1-4.) 

" The word that the Lord spake against Babylon and 
against the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet: 
Declare ye among the nations, and publish, and set up a 
standard; publish, and conceal not: say, Babylon is taken, 
Bel is confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces ; her idols 
are confounded, her images are broken in pieces. For out 
of the north there cometh up a nation against her, which 
shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein : 
they shall remove, they shall depart, both man and beast." 
(Jer. 1. 1-3.) This is a beautiful prelude to the sublime 
utterances that follow to v. 40. 

"Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that 
the word of the Lord spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah 
might be accomplished, the Lord stirred up the spirit of 
Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation through- 
out all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, 
Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the 
earth hath the Lord God of heaven given me ; and he hath 
charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in 



THE EMPIEE OF THE MEDES ASTD PERSIANS. 57 

Judali. Who is there among you of all his people ? The 
Lord his God be with him, and let him go up." (2 Chron. 
xxx vi. 22-23 ; Ezra i. 1-3.) 

"Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them" (the 
Babylonians), "which shall not regard silver; and as for 
gold, they shall not delight in it. Their bows also shall 
dash the young men to pieces ; and they shall have no pity 
on the fruit of the womb ; their eye shall not spare chil- 
dren. And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of 
the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew 
Sodom and Gomorrah. It shall never be inhabited, neither 
shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation : neither 
shall the Arabian pitch tent there ; neither shall the shep- 
herds make their fold there. But wild beasts of the desert 
shall lie there ; and their houses shall be full of doleful 
creatures ; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall 
dance there. And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry 
in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant 
palaces." (Isaiah xiii. 17-22.) 

Cyrus, though surrounded by the wealth and refinement 
of the world ; though possessed of territory exceeding that 
of any predecessor ; though commanding an army sufficient 
to secure his dominions in peace, sighed for conquests. In- 
deed, so ardent was his ambition that it was not restrained 
by the reflection that the nation whose ruin he plotted 
was the heritage of a woman. With all the fire of youth, 
he prepared to invade the Massagetae or Turks, a people 
beyond the Araxes, near the wilds of Scythia. Tomyris, 
their queen, fearlessly told the Persian that if he persisted 
in his designs she would give him his fill of blood. Noth- 
ing daunted by her threat, nor compassionating her con- 
dition, Cyrus invaded the distant land, and joining battle 
with its enraged inhabitants, his army was defeated and 
his life destroyed. 



58 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

The sceptre of Cyrus passed to the hands of his son 
Cambyses. Early domestic occurrences gave direction to 
the reign of this prince. His father had introduced into 
his household a distinguished beauty named Nitetis, the 
daughter of a deceased king of Egypt. It is easy to ima- 
gine the effect of this act upon the mind of Cassandane, 
the wife of Cyrus, who afforded the best evidence of affec- 
tion in a thriving family of children. A lady of distinction 
on a visit to the household of the monarch, charmed 
with the appearance of the children, gave expression to 
eulogy. The dejected princess exclaimed, "Me, who am 
the mother of these children, Cyrus neglects and despises : 
all his kindness is bestowed on this Egyptian female." 
Stung by the severity and truth of the remark, young 
Cambyses vowed, when he should arrive at man's estate, to 
avenge his mother's wrongs by the destruction of Egypt.* 
This project, however, was long delayed by a dread of the 
consequences of conducting the army over the deserts be- 
tween Egypt and the empire. Of this the monarch was 
at last relieved by the advice of Phanes, a Halicarnassean 
whose talents had given him elevation in the court of 
Egypt, but who had fled from it in disgust to the Persian 
palace. Pursuant to this, the consent of the Arabians was 
obtained for the passage of the Persians, the expedition 
completed, and Egypt subdued. 

Although Cambyses increased the power of the empire 
by this exploit, its success elated him to such a degree that 
he gave loose to the worst passions. Not content with 
humbling a nation by conquest, he degraded its people by 
.casting indignity upon their usages. In the midst of his 
exultation, the king fell a prey to a consuming disease. A 

* Herodotus, Euterpe, Thalia. Justiu, Bk. I. ch. ix., x. Orosius, 
Bk. II. ch. iv. New. Dis., xii. p. 167. 



THE EMPIEE OF THE MEDES AHD PEKSIA^S. 59 

vision increased his torments by deluding him into the be- 
lief that Smerdis, his brother, had seized the sceptre and 
was acknowledged in the capital. An executioner was 
commissioned, with an injunction not to return until 
Smerdis was despatched. A real usurpation followed this 
horrid fratricide. The bold impostor, taking advantage of 
the secrecy which attended the murder of the son of Cyrus, 
asserted that he was Smerdis and, haying been rescued from 
the atrocious designs of Cambyses, had taken the throne 
to save the sinking empire. Deceived by these pretexts, 
the nation acknowledged his authority. The danger which 
now threatened the distant monarch roused him from his 
lethargy to protect his power. But in this the most justifi- 
able act of his life, the desert of his crime followed him. 
When mounting his horse to return to his dominions, he 
fell upon the edge of his naked sword. The wound soon 
assumed a dangerous form, and it became apparent to all 
that death must follow. 

The usurper sought to establish himself firmly upon the 
throne of the departed monarch. Edicts were issued re- 
lieving the subjects for three years from the weight of taxes 
and tribute. This popular step would have answered the 
purpose of the impostor but for the act of one man. Inde- 
pendent of the confession of Cambyses that he had mur- 
dered his brother, Otanes, the father of a lady attached to 
the royal household, had reason to believe the reigning 
monarch was not Smerdis, the son of Cyrus. In order to 
satisfy himself and the public, he required his daughter to 
inform him if the reigning sovereign had ears. Strange as 
was the test proposed, it was of all others the best calcu- 
lated to settle the dispute, inasmuch as it enabled Otanes 
to decide whether the monarch was not the villain who, 
for his mean vices, had been deprived of those organs by 
the order of Cyrus. After some time had elapsed, the 



60 OUTLIKE EVOLUTION" OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

female reported to her father that the king had no ears. 
This information was communicated to six trusty friends, 
who, having determined to rid the nation of the impostor, 
repaired to the palace, and luckily obtaining admission, he 
was despatched by the sword of Darius, the son of Hys- 
taspes. 

The form of government was now the object of concern 
among the conspirators. In their meetings the respective 
forms of democracy, oligarchy, and monarchy were dis- 
cussed. Monarchy was finally adopted. A matter of 
greater difficulty arose in the selection of a person to fill 
the throne. After much altercation it was unanimously 
agreed that the conspirators should ride up next morning 
by sunrise to a certain street in the capital : the sceptre 
was to be his whose horse first neighed. The conspirators 
parted. What means were taken by the rest to bring 
about a favorable result is not known ; Darius, however, 
left nothing untried that the art of his hostler, (Ebanes, 
could suggest. The morning arrived ; the conspirators 
met : Darius, the son of Hystaspes, won the prize and was 
acknowledged emperor of Asia. 

An opportunity soon occurred of testing the emperor's 
feelings towards his early companions. During hours of 
danger the conspirators entered into an agreement that 
whoever might hold the sceptre, his six associates should 
have the privilege of approaching his presence without the 
formalities usual in Asiatic courts. Intaphernes, one of 
the conspirators, entered the palace in great haste and, 
being resisted by the guards, forced his way to the royal 
presence. Darius, roused by the temerity of the act, 
caused him and many of his unoffending relatives to be 
executed. Shortly afterwards, however, an event trans- 
pired which relieved the fame of the monarch from the 
odium of this wicked act. A stranger appeared at the pal- 



THE EMPIRE OF THE MEDES AND PERSIANS. 61 

ace and, alleging he had once conferred a favor on Darius, 
sought to be introduced to his presence. The king hesi- 
tated at first, but at last permitted him to enter. He 
proved to be Syloson, the exiled prince of Samos, who 
when Darius was in Egypt, an undistinguished subordi- 
nate in the army of Oambyses, made him a present of a 
costly cloak, though he had been unable to obtain it at an 
exorbitant price. The recollection of this act of kindness 
induced the monarch to offer wealth to the stranger, which 
he declined, but implored that his native isle might be 
rescued from servitude. Darius promised to perform the 
request, and a force was equipped under the command of 
Otanes which accomplished the object. 

During the time spent in the reduction of Samos, Baby- 
lon rebelled. A year was employed in fruitless efforts for 
its reduction. At last Zopyrus, one of the seven who had 
dethroned the false Smerdis, agreed with Darius to effect 
the surrender of the city by treachery. His scheme was 
finally successful. 

Thus relieved from internal feuds, the emperor de- 
termined to enlarge his dominions by an incursion into 
the territories of the Scythians.* At the head of an im- 
mense army he crossed the Thracian Bosphorus by a 
bridge of boats. Thrace was subdued, the Ister was passed, 
but the Persian was compelled to return to Asia without 
finding the wily Scythian. The invasion of Libya was 
still more unfortunate. Such extensive operations excited 
hatred against the empire. Aristagoras reared the stan- 
dard of rebellion in the regions of Ionia. With Grecian 
assistance Sardis was besieged; but the Persians aban- 
doned the siege and defeated the assailants near Ephesus. 
Notwithstanding the division thus created between the 



* Herodotus, Melpomene to Calliope. Justin, Bk. II. 



62 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OP EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

allies, the loss of Grecian aid was repaired by the auxiliaries 
which the Ionians received from Cyprus and Caria. 
Against this powerful combination Darius rose in all 
his strength, and victory crowned his exertions on the 
Asiatic and European side of the Hellespont, as well as 
throughout Macedonia and Thrace. The submission of 
Greece was demanded in haughty terms. The generals of 
the emperor were instructed to enforce the demand. 
They made fearful havoc among the Grecian isles, and 
passed into Attica to erect their standard. Eepulsed at 
Marathon, they were compelled to retire into Asia, leaving 
the Greek commander, Miltiades, in possession of his na- 
tive soil. Still determined on conquest, Darius renewed 
his preparations; which were but little delayed by his death. 
To Xerxes, his son by a second wife, Darius committed 
his sceptre and the execution of his towering schemes. In 
command of the largest army ever marshalled, this prince 
set out for the invasion of Greece. Crossing the Helles- 
pont on a bridge of boats, Xerxes landed in Greece, pressed 
on to Thermopylae, whose narrow pass he forced after a 
glorious resistance by the small band of Leonidas; 
gained no advantage at Artemisium; was unsuccessful at 
Delphi; and was defeated at Salamis by Themistocles, in 
command of the Greeks. Dejected by these calamities, the 
Persian king returned to his capital, leaving behind three 
hundred thousand men, under Mardonius, to subjugate 
Greece. This force, however, was shortly afterwards 
ruined and their general slain by Pausanias, in command 
of the Greeks, at Plataea. The Persians who survived this 
defeat met a dreadful slaughter in Phocis. 

Thus was the palm of empire lost by the Persians. By 
what power it was next won will be seen in tracing the 
affairs of the Grecian states, 



THE EMPIRE OF THE GREEKS. 63 



CHAPTEE III. 

THE EMPIRE OF THE GREEKS. 

Greece, now become one of the most important powers 
of the world, was composed of many separate and inde- 
pendent states. All that portion of it which lay south of 
the Corinthian gulf was called Peloponnesus, in modern 
times known as the Morea, and consisted of the republics 
of Achaia, Elis, Messenia, Laconia, Corinth, Arcadia, and 
Argolis ; that, north and east of this peninsula, more pro- 
perly styled Greece numbered the republics of Acarnania, 
Attica, Bceotia, Phocis, Locris, Doris, Megara, ^Etolia, and 
Thessaly. * 

The arts and refinements of civilized life were early in- 
troduced among them by Cecraups and Danaus from 
Egypt ;f Cadmus from Phoenicia ;t and Pelops from Phry- 

gia.§ 

The council composed of representatives from all the 
states, created by Amphictyon, one of the earliest kings of 
Athens, in the course of time became the senate of the 
country, extending its authority to religious and secular 
affairs. || Kingly power having given place in most of the 
states to popular authority, their progress was rapid to 



* Butler's Ancient Geography. 
fDio. Sic., Bk. I. ch. xi. p. 13. 
JHer., Ter. lviii. 4. 

§Plut. Theseus. Thuc, Bk. I. p. 4. Diod. Sic, Bk. IV. ch. 4; 
Bk. V. ch. 3. Comstock's Greek Revolution, ch. i, 
|| Tac. An,, notes 4 to. 14, p. 108. 



64 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

national importance.* However much political weight was 
possessed by each of the states of Greece for centuries, two 
at last became pre-eminent. Athens and Sparta, the 
capitals of these republics, were consequently rivals ; which 
arrested the attention and divided the affections of the 
entire confederacy. This condition of things may have 
kindled an emulation which perfected both in the arts and 
sciences ; but it gradually engendered a feeling which broke 
asunder the warmest attachments, social and national, f 
The contests with Messenia kept alive the bitterest strife : 
its final subjugation to Spartan authority did not diminish 
them. 

After the Persian invasion the Athenians resolved to sur- 
round their city with walls. The work was commenced 
with alacrity. No sooner had they commenced it than a 
delegation arrived from Sparta which protested in the name 
of their state against its prosecution. Themistocles, com- 
prehending the motive of this interference, suggested to his 
countrymen a scheme by which it might be circumvented. 
Governed by his views, they appointed him at the head of 
a delegation to treat with the Spartans. Having arranged 
their plan of operations, Themistocles set out for Sparta 
first. On his arrival there all action was suspended until 
his companions should join him. One after another came 
in, but the last did not arrive until the walls were com- 
pleted. The general now chided the envious people for 
their intermeddling, telling them in plain terms that 
Athens had determined to protect herself from any attacks 
which might be made against her, whether they approved 
or censured. The erection of the fortifications at the 



*Her., Ter. xv., lxvi. 

\ Justin, Bk. III. ch. ii. Thuc, p. 7. 



THE EMPIRE OF THE GREEKS. 65 

Piraeus was a measure of equal importance. These works 
were constructed on such an extensive scale as to afford ac- 
commodation for over four hundred vessels.* 

Sparta and Athens dropped their contentions for a time 
to assist their Ionian allies, now oppressed by Persia. 
Pausanias was put in command by the Lacedaemonians, and 
the Athenians committed their forces to Aristides and Ci- 
mon, the son of Miltiades. Pausanias agreed to betray his 
country to the Persian king in consideration of receiving 
his daughter in matrimony. The consummation of the 
perfidy was prevented by the detection and death of the 
traitor. Themistocles, suspected of having been privy to 
the design of Pausanias, abandoned Greece and found a 
refuge among the Molossians. f The evil effect of these per- 
nicious examples in such illustrious subjects was counter- 
acted by the sterling integrity of Aristides. J Unexpected 
as was the change in the life of Oimon from the excess of 
dissipation to a precise morality, it tended, together with 
the virtues of Aristides, to place the honor of Greece upon 
that eminence from which it had. been cast by the defec- 
tion of their predecessors. § During the military com- 
mand of Cimon the power of Persia was destroyed in 
Thrace ; Scyros was reduced ; the imperial forces expelled 
from Ionia to Pamphylia; the Asiatic fleet overthrown near 
the mouth of the Eurymedon ; distrust spread throughout 
the empire ; and Egypt induced to rear the standard of re- 
bellion. The achievements of Cimon procured him so dis- 
tinguished a reputation as to excite the jealousies of rivals. 
The veteran was banished from his country; but its exigen- 
cies produced his recall in the space of five years. Again in- 

*Plut. Themistocles. Jus., Bk. II. ch. xv. Thuc., Bk. I. 

f Justin, Bk. II. ch. xv. 

X Plut. Aristides. Jus., Bk. II. ch. xv. 

§ Plut. Cimon. 



66 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIEE AND PROPHECY. 

vested with the chief command, he set out to humble the 
powers of the East. Never was he more successful than in 
this expedition. The Persian was completely reduced, and 
was glad to obtain peace on terms the most flattering to 
his Grecian adversary. Cimon, however, did not survive 
to behold the injury he had inflicted on his enemies or the 
advantage he had obtained for his country. 

Greece, above all nations of these times, was fortunate in 
the continued succession of great men. Scarcely was Oi- 
mon departed before the talents of Pericles added lustre to 
her arms and strength to her councils.* Powerful as was 
his intellect, he was nevertheless wedded to the conceit 
that Athens ought to govern Greece. Sparta was accord- 
ingly treated as if she was a subordinate member of the 
confederacy. Through the influence of Pericles, Athens 
was selected as the place for the assembling of the national 
convention to provide for rebuilding the temples destroyed 
in the Persian war. The indignation of Sparta was aroused 
by this act ; the convocation prevented ; and the rancor of 
political strife spread with redoubled fury. Athens re- 
ceived advantage from this disgraceful struggle, but Greece 
at large was injured by it.f A truce at last restored peace 
for thirty years. In half that time the influence of Pericles 
broke it by taking part in the conflict between Corinth and 
its Oorcyran colonists. Greece now became involved in 
what is called the Peloponnesian war, which lasted for 
twenty-seven years. J The first act of hostility was com- 
mitted by the Thebans in besieging Plataea. Athens sent 
forth her armies to its relief, and succeeded in expelling 
the Spartans. These acts ranged the powers of Greece 

* Plut. Pericles. Justin, Bk. III. ch. vi. 
fjus., Bk. III. ch. vii. 

JTkucydides and Justin, Bks. IV., V. Xenophon's Affairs of 
Greece, Bks. I., II. 



THE EMPIRE OF THE GREEKS. 67 

I 

under the banners of the rival cities : although some re- 
mained neutral for a time, all were compelled to fall in 
with one side or the other before the war had made much 
progress. 

Presuming she could terminate the contest by a single 
blow, Sparta invaded Attica with an army of sixty thou- 
sand men, commanded by Archidamus. The foresight of 
Pericles thwarted the plan by inducing the citizens to 
destroy their effects, ravage the country, and betake them- 
selves to Athens. Secure within the walls of that city, the 
enemy, though he continued to menace, was eventually 
compelled to retire. In return for this invasion, Spartan 
territory became the scene of Athenian inroad. 

A pestilence which had made dreadful havoc in the east 
and south appeared in Athens during the second year of 
this war. Notwithstanding the exertions of the senate to 
stay its course, guided, as some suppose, by the abilities 
of Hippocrates of Cos, its desolating fury was so great 
that the dead and dying were hourly found in every 
habitation, throughout the streets, and in the temples. 
Afflicted as they were at home, the Athenians still con- 
ducted their warlike operations abroad. Potidaea, which 
had been now nearly three years besieged, yielded to their 
arms. A few months placed an equal advantage in the 
hands of the Lacedaemonians by the conquest of Platsea. 
A second year turned the scale in favor of Athens by the 
destruction of Mitylene: but the ravages of the plague 
deprived it of the capacity for rejoicing. The possession 
of Pylus by the Athenians gave them a temporary advan- 
tage. Its proximity to Spartan soil excited the Lacedae- 
monians to extraordinary exertions; but they were unsuc- 
cessful at this fortress, and an equally melancholy catas- 
trophe befell them at Sphacteria, which was followed by 
the reduction of Cythera and the ravages of the Pelopon- 



68 OUTLINE EVOLUTION" OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

nesian coasts. Such a train of disasters roused the 
greatest energies of the Spartans, and they devolved the 
chief command upon Brasidas, one of the ablest generals 
Greece ever produced. Thrace, whence Athens derived her 
most important supplies, was now invaded by the Spartans, 
and Amphipolis, its chief town, subjected to every indig- 
nity that a relentless foe could inflict. 

Many years were spent in this destructive war. All 
Greece at length became inclined to peace. A cessation 
of hostilities was agreed upon for one year. During 
this period of time peace would have been concluded but 
for the influence of two men. Oleon, a citizen of Athens, 
without education, was possessed of that order of talent 
which proved to be potent with his vain and inconstant 
countrymen. Brasidas, the Spartan general, exactly op- 
posite in his genius, charmed the Lacedaemonians by a 
career of judicious actions. After the death of these men 
the republics settled on a truce for fifty years. Even this 
would not have been accomplished but for the influence of 
Nicias, whose patriotism was illy rewarded by his country- 
men. Just as were the views entertained by this states- 
man, they were assailed by the censure of the popular 
leaders. 

Alcibiades was now becoming important. Possessed of 
a flowing eloquence and a large fortune, he exerted a com- 
manding influence in the councils of Athens. This he 
wielded on all occasions against Nicias. In the space of a 
few years he rekindled the flames of civil discord. A vast 
force was raised for the invasion of Sicily, which was com- 
mitted to the joint command of Alcibiades and Nicias. 
The entire weight of this arduous work was soon left upon 
the shoulders of Nicias, in consequence of the disgrace of 
his associate commander. Although the expedition was in 
opposition to the judgment of Mcias, he sacrificed his 



THE EMPIRE OF THE GREEKS. 69 

i 

own views to the decrees of his country, and conducted the 
operations with so much ability that Syracuse, the capital 
of Sicily, was about to surrender as the Lacedaemonian 
fleet arrived. Victory turning to the oppressed, the allies 
charged the Athenians with such desperation as to anni- 
hilate their fleet and army. An event so important pro- 
duced radical changes in both parties. Athens underwent 
a revolution, which brought to power a council of four 
hundred, whose misrule was soon succeeded by the recall of 
Alcibiades and his investment with the supreme control of 
the army. Sparta, more calculating in its movements, in- 
vested Lysander with the chief command. The Lacedae- 
monian general, strengthened by an alliance with the Per- 
sian court, set out at the head of the fleet, worsted the 
rival navy at Ephesus, and utterly defeated it at iEgos 
Potamos. Losing no time, the conquerors besieged Athens, 
brought that ancient capital to terms, and put an end to 
the Peloponnesian war. The government was changed to 
suit the victors, the authority of thirty commanders set 
up, and the spoils of silver and gold sent in triumph to 
Sparta.* 

The supremacy of Sparta, however, was not of long con- 
tinuance.! Scarcely was it established before the republic 
was involved in occurrences which led eventually to its 
ruin. A severe struggle at this time agitated the Persian 
dominions. Cyrus the younger, a son of the last king, 
undertook to dethrone his brother Artaxerxes. Eaising a 
considerable army, he attached to it thirteen thousand Gre- 
cian troops under the command of Clearchus. The con- 
test was terminated on the plains of Ounaxa, where the 
prince was slain, his mercenaries routed, and his allies, 

* Xenophon's Af. of Gr. 

f Jus., Bk. V. ch. ix. Xen., Ex. of Cy. 



70 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

though triumphant, were left alone to fight their way home, 
sword in hand. After much hardship, this band arrived 
in Europe and entered into the service of the Thracian 
prince. Elated with success, the Persian monarch imposed 
new burdens upon the Ionian cities, which appealed to the 
Lacedaemonians for succor. Agesilaus,* the Spartan king, 
proceeded in person to Asia, accompanied by Lysander, 
who shared with him the command. Brave as was the 
prince, the fame of his general insured the regard of the 
citizens. Such a slight was more than the Spartan noble 
could bear. His indignation showed itself in acts which 
created implacable discord between the general and the 
king. Asia was soon afterwards deprived of the presence 
of Agesilaus by a call of the Spartan senate, which required 
his immediate return in consequence of the league be- 
tween Thebes, Corinth, and Argos, got up by Persian gold, f 
Oonon, the disgraced Athenian admiral, who since his 
defeat by Lysander had remained in retirement, took 
advantage of this war in the republic, and procuring the 
command of the Persian fleet, defeated the Spartans in a 
sea-fight near Onidus. So sudden and severe a blow spread 
consternation throughout the Peleponnesus and severed 
their allies from their interest. The peace of Antalcidas 
put an end to these contentions. The Persian king by this 
treaty retained the cities in Asia and the isles of Cyprus 
and Clazomense; the rest of the Grecian cities were left 
free; and Lemnos, Imbros, and Sciros subjected to the 
Athenians. J 

Sparta, though humbled, was not less aspiring than she 
had always been. Determined still to effect her ambitious 
schemes, under pretext of the late treaty she insisted 

* Plut. Agesilaus. f Jus., Bk. VL 

t Xen. Af. of Gi\, Bks. IV., V. 



THE EMPIRE OF THE GREEKS. 71 

upon the freedom of the Grecian cities. Thebes was her 
object: her citizens were degraded; her laws and institu- 
tions were overthrown. This triumph of brute force was 
not of long duration. It roused the spirit of patriotism, 
and brought into the field Epaminondas and Pelopidas. 
The counsels of these leaders drew together an army 
which, though small, was composed of men whose courage 
was irresistible. They met the Spartans at Leuctra, and, 
notwithstanding they were outnumbered three to one, the 
Thebans were victorious. This success induced the 
Theban generals to undertake an invasion of Laconia, in 
which they penetrated to the walls of Sparta, and finally 
triumphed at Man tinea.* 

Greece was alarmed by the rise of this third capital, 
which seemed destined to pluck the palm of sovereignty 
from both Athens and Sparta. Misgivings and jealousies 
disturbed the public mind and distracted the national 
councils. 

Philip of Macedon had long contemplated the conquest 
of Greece, but feared to attempt it even divided as it was. f 
The period at which he chose to accomplish his purpose 
was about seventy-five years after the commencement of 
the Peloponnesian war, when the entire confederacy was 
torn asunder by a religious war created in consequence of 
the Phocians applying to private uses certain property 
alleged to have been devoted to Apollo. The conduct of 
these people was submitted to the states-general, whose 
determination made it their duty to return the property 
they despoiled to the purposes for which it was originally 
devoted. The execution of this decree was resisted by the 



* Plut. Pelopidas. Xen., Af. of Gr. 

fDio. Sic, Bk. XVI. Justin, Bks. VII.-IX. Plutarch's Demos- 
thenes. 



72 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY, 

Phocians. A war ensued, in which Philip enforced the 
decree and tried all the plans which ingenuity could sug- 
gest to obtain possession of the pass of Thermopylae. 
These bold movements excited the indignation of Demos- 
thenes, who raised a warning voice against the Macedonian. 
Eloquent as were his efforts, they passed by the Athenians 
almost unheeded; though at last they were induced to send 
a small auxiliary force to Olynthus, from which place suc- 
cor had been sought against the common enemy. The 
town, however, was forced to surrender. Philip lulled 
the Athenians into a fatal repose by inducing them to 
believe that his only design was to heal the divisions of 
Greece. By this crafty policy the Macedonian obtained 
Thermopylae, subdued the Phocians, terminated the sacred 
war, and procured himself to be elected a member of the 
amphictyonic council. Domestic concerns required the 
return of the monarch to Macedonia, and during his stay 
there he enlarged his kingdom by movements in Illyria 
and Thrace. The good fortune of Philip forsook him for 
a while. He failed in his attempts upon Byzantium. But 
his favorite object, the sovereignty of Greece, infused 
ardor in the midst of misfortune. Elatea was seized by 
the Macedonian. The voice of Demosthenes was loud in 
denunciation. Inflamed by the appeals of the orator, 
a league was effected between Thebes and Athens to check 
the conqueror; but he crushed this last effort for indepen- 
dence at Chaeronea. 

The subjugation of Greece, however, was but a means 
with Philip by which to effect the conquest of Persia. 
To this account alone he turned it; procuring himself to 
be immediately proclaimed by the amphictyons the com- 
mander of the Greeks against their enemies, the Persians. 
No time was lost in making preparation for this undertak- 
ing. Promising as were the prospects of the king, his do- 



THE EMPIRE OF THE GREEKS. 73 

mestic broils had arrived at a crisis, and, prompting the 
revenge of Pausanias, the brilliant anticipations of Philip 
of Macedon were terminated by the dagger of that assassin. 
Alexander, the issne of Philip's marriage with Olympias, 
now twenty years of age, sncceeded to the throne of Mace- 
don.* Procuring from the Greeks of the Peloponnesus, 
Sparta excepted, the generalship of the projected expedi- 
tion against Persia, and from Athens more honors than 
she had ever given to his father, Alexander proceeded first 
to reduce the nations contiguous to Macedon, which had 
thrown off his authority. In effecting this object he 
evinced that genius which always made his arms invinci- 
ble. Thebes resolved to maintain its independence; but 
Alexander, with his veteran troops, appearing at her gates, 
compelled her to surrender, and inflicted upon her inno- 
cent citizens such a doom as struck Greece with terror. 
The invasion of the Persian Empire was now commenced. 
No sooner had Alexander reached the Granicus than a bat- 
tle ensued in which he was victorious. This success was 
followed in a few months by the submission or subjugation 
of the greater part of Asia Minor. Danger brought thus 
near to the Persian monarch impelled him to extraordinary 
exertion in preparing for a final struggle. Alexander was 
more anxious for battle than his enemy. The sickness of 
the Macedonian deferred it for a time. It was at last 
fought near the city of Issus. The victory was so decisive 
that not only was the army of Darius, the Persian king, 
destroyed, but his wife and children fell into the hands of 
Alexander. Parmenio seized the imperial treasures at 
Damascus for the conqueror; Sidon threw open her gates 



* Arrian's Expedition of Alexander. Dio. Sic, Bk. XVII. Jus., 
Bks. XI., XII. Orosius, Bk. III. ch. ix. Justin, Bk. IX. ch. viii. 
New. Dis., ii. Ezekiel xxvi.-xxviii. 



74 OUTLIKE EVOLUTIOH OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

before him; and although Tyre ventured to resist him for 
a while, her walls were eventually carried by storm. Pales- 
tine and Egypt were visited by Alexander at this period: 
to the former he granted great favors; in the latter he 
established his authority and founded a city distinguished 
by his name. Great as was this success, the object of the 
invasion was yet unaccomplished. Darius still existed; his 
sceptre was not seized; and the Persians had rallied with 
ardor in support of both. Marching rapidly from Egypt 
and crossing the Tigris and Euphrates, Alexander met his 
adversary on the plains of Gaugamela, near Arbela. A 
battle was fought. The sceptre of empire was won by the 
Macedonian: the kingdom of Cyrus, which had existed 
over two hundred years, now in the time of his twelfth 
successor was annihilated. Darius was shortly afterwards 
slain. Bessus, attempting to maintain the power of Per- 
sia, was delivered to the conqueror, who reigned without a 
rival. The union of the various portions of an empire is 
the basis of common strength. If Alexander had regarded 
this principle, his mission would have been a mercy to man- 
kind and a blessing to himself; but holding his conquests 
in their dissevered condition, he deprived them of the bene- 
fits of good government and stimulated in his own bosom 
a hurtful ambition. Hence new visions of glory excited 
his passions as he read or heard of distant realms; and he 
successively subdued Media, reduced Bactria, humbled 
Scythia, laid much of India under contribution, and would 
have conquered the whole country but for the rebellion of 
his army. Death terminated the career of this restless 
conqueror at Babylon, in the thirteenth year of his 
reign. 

Arideus, an illegitimate son of Philip, was proclaimed 
chief of the empire, and Perdiccas, to whom Alexander, 
at the point of death, gave his ring, was entrusted with 



THE EMPIKE OF THE GBEEKS. 75 

executive power; while the provinces were portioned among 
various favorites. The Greeks both of Asia and Europe 
made an effort to regain their independence, but were sub- 
dued by Antipater and Craterus. Perdiccas, judging this 
a fit opportunity to carry out his ambitious schemes in 
Macedonia, attempted to destroy the power of Antipater. 
A league among many of the governors followed. Anti- 
pater and Craterus prepared to enter Asia at the head of a 
large army.* Eumenes was directed to repel them; while 
Perdiccas invaded Egypt, the domain of Ptolemy, f Per- 
diccas had not the popularity necessary for the consumma- 
tion of such vast schemes, and, falling a victim to the fury 
of the soldiers, his power passed into the hands of Anti- 
pater. Death in the space of a year carried off that veteran 
soldier, and Polysperchon took his place. The ambition 
of two men now distracted the empire — Cassander in 
Greece, and Antigonus in Asia. Divisions in the royal 
household favored their designs. The king and his wife 
had become divided from the widow of Philip, Olympias, 
and Alexander's widow Eoxana and her son Alexander. 
Cassander united with the first, and Polysperchon with the 
latter. A fortunate turn enabled Olympias to get posses- 
sion of the persons of the king and his wife, who were de- 
spatched by her orders. In Asia the cause of Antigonus 
triumphed. Eumenes was not only defeated but taken 
prisoner. In her turn Olympias fell a victim to the fate to 
which she had consigned Arideus and Eurydice. Cassander, 
emboldened by his success, made Eoxana and her son pris- 
oners, married Thessalonices, the sister of Alexander, and 
thus confirmed his power in Macedonia. Seleucus, gov- 
ernor of Babylon, in dread of the power and ambition of 

*Dio. Sic, Bks. XVIII.-XX. Jus., Bks. XIII.-XVII. 
fPlut. Eumenes. New. Die., xv. 



76 OUTLIKE EVOLUTION" OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

Antigonus, fled to the court of Ptolemy, where he suc- 
ceeded in forming a league between that prince, Cassander, 
and Lysiruachus against Antigonus, who proclaimed him- 
self the avenger of Eoxana and her son and the friend of 
the Greek cities. A furious war raged for four years, 
when it was terminated by a treaty which made Cassander 
sovereign lord of Europe till Alexander's son arrived 
at age ; placed Lysimachus in command of Thrace; left 
Ptolemy in the enjoyment of sovereign power in Egypt and 
the bordering cities in Africa and Arabia; declared Anti- 
gonus lord of Asia, and established among the Greeks the 
supremacy of their ancient laws. 

Cassander soon rid himself of all fear from the succes- 
sion of Alexanders son by causing him and his mother to 
be put to death. About one year after the peace, upon 
complaint that Antigonus had violated the treaty by put- 
ting garrisons into the Greek cities, Ptolemy invaded his 
dominions in Cilicia, but being repulsed, turned his war- 
like preparations against Lycia and Greece. Demetrius, 
the son of the Asiatic lord, passed into Greece at the head 
of a large force, freed all the cities, and overcame the 
Egyptian in a sea-fight.* From this period all the chiefs 
assumed the title of king. Demetrius pushed his con- 
quests in Europe until Cassander sought his father to stay 
his operations. A haughty demand was contained in his 
reply, that Cassander should surrender to him all his do- 
minions. This brought on another war which terminated 
at the battle of Ipsus, where Antigonus lost his life and 
his crown. By the terms settled among the victors, Cas- 
sander took Macedon and Grecee; Lysimachus, Thrace and 
the countries upon the Hellespont and Bosphorus; Ptolemy, 
Egypt, Libya, Arabia, Syria, and Palestine ; Seleucus, 

*Plut. Demetrius. Dio. Sic., Fragments of Bk. XXI. p. 748. 



ROME TO THE TIME OF AUGUSTUS CAESAR. 77 

Chaldea, Persia, and the East. All these powers were 
gradually subdued by the Empire of the Romans, which 
now claims attention. 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE EMPIRE OF THE ROMANS TO THE TIME OF AUGUSTUS 

C^SAR. 

tEneas after the destruction of Troy, with a band of 
about six hundred exiles, sought a refuge in distant climes. 
Arriving in Italy, they were eventually received into the 
favor of Latinus, king of the Latins, and their leader mar- 
ried to his daughter.* Fourteen kings succeeded iEneas, 
when Eomulus arose, who laid the foundation of a city on 
the banks of the Tiber (a.m. 3252), which was called, from 
his name, Rome. Under the influence of laws encouraging 
immigration, vast multitudes from all the surrounding 
nations flocked to the standard of the new prince. This 
prosperity, however, came well-nigh being destroyed by an 
unfortunate contest with the Sabines. With a view of pro- 
curing wives, the Romans seized some of the females of 
that people when attending the public amusements at 
Rome. A war ensued. The women who had been taken, 
now Roman wives, rushing amidst the infuriated combat- 
ants, implored them to cease the work of blood. This 
appeal putting an end to the battle, induced the parties to 
form a lasting league, by the terms of which the Sabine 
Tatius became a partner in royalty with Romulus; such 

* Livy, Bk. I. Jus., Bk. XLIII. Eutropius' Epitome of Horn. 
History to Jovian. Orosius, Bk. II. ch. i to iv. ; Bks. IV. to VI. 



78 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

of his nation as wished had liberty to settle in Kome; and 
their numbers were represented by adding one hundred 
members to the senate. 

The kingdom thus constituted increased its numbers 
and extended its limits for two hundred and forty- four 
years. At this period, Tarquin, surnamed the Proud, lost 
the sceptre. Sextus, his son, had gratified by force his 
passion upon Lucretia, the chaste wife of Collatinus, one 
of his companions in arms. Overwhelmed with grief, the 
outraged matron, plunging a knife into her bosom, fell dead 
in the presence of her family, haying first communicated 
to them the whole affair. Brutus, stung to the quick by 
the detail of her wrongs, roused the spirit of rebellion among 
the citizens and soldiers. The oppressions endured by the 
nation since the accession of the Tarquins produced dis- 
gust of monarchy. Kingly power was consequently suc- 
ceeded by consular authority. Brutus and Collatinus were 
first chosen consuls (a.m. 3497). 

The exiled king, however, was not thus easily set aside. * 
The ambassadors who were sent to Borne to procure a 
restitution of his property formed a party among the young 
nobles to effect his restoration. The conspiracy was dis- 
covered by the vigilance of the consuls before it was ripe for 
execution. The sons of Brutus were prominent among 
the conspirators. Unshrinking in the discharge of his 
duty, this fearless patriot promptly examined the case of 
his children. Their guilt having been established, the 
consul consigned them to the same doom as was inflicted 
upon their companions in crime. Foiled in this attempt 
to regain his throne, Tarquin procured the assistance of 
the Veientians. Before battle was fairly joined fell both 
Brutus and Aruns, the son of the exiled king: the issue, 

* Livy, Bk. II. 



KOME TO THE TIME OF AUGUSTUS C^ESAK. 79 

however, was in favor of the Koman people. The only 
hope left Tarquin was in the aid of Porsenna, king of 
Clusium. Uniting their forces, these kings assailed Rome. 
The downfall of that city would have been inevitable had 
not Horatius Codes, by interposing his person between the 
retreating Romans and their enemies, intercepted the course 
of the pursuers until his countrymen cut down the bridge 
over the Tiber, when he saved himself by swimming to 
the opposite shore. Porsenna, still persisting in his pur- 
pose, laid siege to Rome, but at last, wearied out by the 
valor of his enemies, he withdrew his forces and left hope- 
less the cause of Tarquin. The proud exile made but one 
more effort to regain his power; which was unsuccessful. 

Intestine troubles, as well as the dread of a war with the 
Sabines, led to the appointment of a new officer, called a 
dictator. Serious discontents prevailing among the peo- 
ple on account of being subjected to imprisonment for 
debt, they refused to enter the army. A decree was con- 
sequently passed abolishing imprisonment for debt and 
relieving the soldiers from all process while in service. 
Upon the return of peace, these wise regulations having 
been repealed, new troubles ensued, which brought Valerius, 
a man of mild disposition, into authority as dictator. After 
the conclusion of these commotions, the dictator pressed 
the senate to dispose of the persons confined for debts; but 
on its refusal, he resigned. The senate then directed the 
consuls to remove the army from the city. The soldiers 
withdrew without the consuls to the distance of about three 
miles, where they surrounded themselves by a rampart and 
a trench. After anxious deliberation, the senate sent a 
deputation to reason the case with the army. Menenius 
Agrippa, a senator of great reputation, managed the ad- 
dress. Such an effect was produced upon the minds of 
the legionaries by the argument of the senator that the 



80 OUTLINE EVOLUTION" OF EMPIEE AND PKOPHECY. 

whole army agreed to return to the city, upon condition 
that the people should in future elect officers from their 
body, who should have the power to redress their 
grievances. Thus were created the Tribunes of the 
People. 

The consequences of this alarming defection were felt 
during the following year in a distressing famine. Sup- 
plies of corn were procured from Sicily by the senate. In 
distributing the article, disputes arose. Ooriolanus insisted 
that the grievances of the patricians should be removed 
before any distribution was made. Popular fury was raised 
to its highest pitch; the senator cited to answer before the 
tribunes, and sentence for banishment pronounced against 
him. Severity so unwarranted aroused the resentment of 
Ooriolanus. A large force was procured by him from the 
Volscians. Having now the advantage of his countrymen, 
Kome would have been subjected to a ferocious sack but 
for the importunities of his mother. 

The calamitous turn of the war with the ^quans caused 
the appointment of Lucius Quintius Cincinnatus as dictator. 
The excitement upon the subjects of the agrarian law and 
consular power were consequently allayed. After having 
successfully terminated the war, the dictator, contented 
with having served his country, retired to his farm.* 

The third century of the existence of Kome is distinguished 
by change in its laws and in their administration. Commis- 
sioners were appointed to visit Athens, the capital of sci- 
ence, in order to form a system of jurisprudence adapted 
to the age. The results of their investigations are denomi- 
nated the " Laws of the Twelve Tables." A body of men 
were instituted, known as the decemviri, to administer 
the new code (a.m. 3554). Firmly established in office, 

* Livy, Bk. III. Dio., Bk. XII. ch. iv. 



ROME TO THE TIME OF AUGUSTUS C^ISAE. 81 

these men abandoned themselves to the worst passions. 
They exercised military as well as civil authority. Their 
official position was constantly used as the means of per- 
sonal revenge. Siccius was exposed to a cruel death by the 
treacherous decemvirs. Little justice as might be expected 
in the career of such wretches, humanity is nevertheless 
shocked at the calculating hypocrisy of Appius Claudius 
in the case involving the honor of the daughter of Virginius. 
Struck with the beauty of that female while she was yet at 
school, he resolved upon the gratification of his passion. 
Neither the maturity of his own years nor the youthful 
simplicity of hers restrained his desires. Having plotted 
the ruin of his innocent victim, he determined to execute 
it in such a manner as not to expose himself to punish- 
ment. A pliant tool was selected, who was to seize the 
child, now fifteen years of age, as his property, on the 
allegation of being the daughter of a deceased female slave. 
The pretended master appeared before the judge to prosecute 
his claim. Appius, after hearing the demand, deferred the 
case until Virginius could be apprised of the proceeding; 
but he immediately wrote to the decemvirs at camp not to 
allow him leave of absence. The letter, however, not arriv- 
ing until after he had left the army, the horror-stricken pa- 
rent was present at the court when the case of his daughter 
was adjudged, and, unable to save her honor, he plunged a 
knife into her heart. Hence he fled through the city and 
to the army. The story was given to Eome; consterna- 
tion seized the projectors of the horrid deed: a revolution 
succeeded. 

The principal changes produced by these commotions 
were the abolition of the decemvirs and the revival of the 
tribunitian power, with the right of appeal to the people. 
Laws authorizing intermarriages between the patricians 
and plebeians; enactments directing that military tribunes. 



82 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OE EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

with consular power, should be elected from both orders; 
and the creation of the censorship soon followed.* 

The repose of Cincinnatus, now over fourscore years of 
age, was again disturbed by the call of his country, to sup- 
press the conspiracy of Mselius, a bold demagogue whose 
wealth enabled him to make alarming impressions upon the 
populace. The veteran patriot, prompt to duty, snatched 
the republic from impending ruin and, regardless of per- 
sonal promotion, returned to his rural retreat. Recovered 
from internal danger, the Romans resolved to reduce the 
pride of their haughty rivals, the Veii. f Oamillus was en- 
trusted with the execution of this work. Ten years were 
spent in war before this people were reduced. After the 
completion of this great national conquest, the conqueror, 
Oamillus, was doomed upon a slight pretence to a fine by 
the tribunes of the people. Such is the fate of merit 
when envy is dominant in the bosoms of judges. In a 
short space of time the course of events made them sensi- 
ble of their weakness and of his strength. A Gallic inva- 
sion brought Oamillus to the command. The powers of his 
genius were unimpaired by misfortune. Rome was saved 
from a foe so ruthless as to treat with violent indignity 
its senators engaged in the councils of state. X Two laws 
of the greatest importance to the public succeeded this 
desperate struggle. By the one, plebeians were admitted 
to the consulship; by the other, all citizens were prevented 
from holding more than five hundred acres of land. 

The arms of the Romans had subjugated only the na- 
tions immediately adjacent; now they were turned against 
a more distant nation, the Samnites, which inhabited the 
south of Italy. § The contest was tedious and severe; but 

* Livy, Bk. IV. f Livy, Bk. V. 

% Livy, Bk. VI. § Livy, Bks. VII. to X. 



ROME TO THE TIME OF AUGUSTUS C^ISAR. 83 

the command of the Roman forces being committed to 
Marcus Valerius, his talents infused an ardor which ren- 
dered them invincible. Such signal glory as was won by 
the army in the war with the Samnites inflamed a portion 
of the soldiers with a feeling of self-importance. Seizing 
upon Quintius, a man of valor, they compelled him to 
assume their command. Rome was assailed, but the ap- 
pearance of Valerius dissuaded the rebels from their rash 
purposes. After this timely reconciliation a successful 
war was waged with the Latins. The Samnites were again 
(a.m. 3727) arrayed against the Romans; but unable to 
cope with their enemies they united with the Tarentines 
and implored the aid of Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, the force 
of whose genius ranked him as the greatest general of the 
age.* The Romans were brought into battle the first time 
with their new foe on the banks of the Siris. It was a 
desperate struggle on both sides. The Greek fought for 
the preservation of his fame: the Roman for his native 
soil and glory. Pyrrhus, perceiving that his troops were 
unable to withstand the heroism of their foes, introduced 
into the conflict his elephants, upon which were mounted 
armed men who, having the advantage from their position, 
overwhelmed the Romans in all directions. The Greek 
did not feel inclined to try chances with the Romans again. 
The milder measures of negotiation were adopted. Oineas 
the orator was deputed to procure a peace. Notwithstand- 
ing the charm of eloquence which adorned the efforts of 
the ambassador, he was not successful. War was renewed, 
and in the battle which was fought at Asculum victory in- 
clined to the Greek. " One more triumph," said Pyrrhus, 

* Justin, Bk. XVIII. ch. i. ii.; Bk. XXIIL ch. iii. Dio. Frag., 
Bk. XXII. ch. xi. Frags, in Livy, Bks. XI. to XX. Dio., Bk. XIX. 
ch. vi. Pint. Pyrrhus. 



84 OUTLINE EVOLUTION" OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

" of this kind will undo me." Two years passed before 
there was another trial of skill and force between the 
Greeks and Eomans. Eoman valor proving triumphant, 
Pyrrhus abandoned the possession of Italy. 

Carthage,* a city of Africa, which from a small Phoe- 
nician colony, planted about one hundred and thirty-seven f 
years before the founding of Kome, was now possessed of 
many portions of Africa, Spain, and all the islands in the 
Sardinian and Tyrrhenian seas. Through a quarrel with 
the Mamer tines at Messana, this republic endeavored to 
get a foothold in Sicily. In dread of the progress of the 
Carthaginians, the Eomans took these people under their 
protection. An army was sent over to Sicily, commanded 
by Appius Claudius, which proved to be too much for the 
combined power of the Carthaginians and Hiero, king of 
Syracuse. The latter made peace with the Eomans by 
paying them one hundred talents of silver and restoring 
the prisoners without ransom. Emboldened fry success, 
Eome equipped a fleet under the command of Eegulus and 
Manlius, by which Carthage was invested. Attacked by 
sea and land, the Africans were reduced to a dreary con- 
dition. They procured the services of Xantippus, a Grecian 
general of great abilities, who afforded a partial relief to 
them by the defeat of Eegulus. Eventually, however, in 
the consulate of Caius Lutatius, the affairs of Carthage be- 
came desperate. Peace was restored by a treaty in which 
the Carthaginians were bound to abandon Sicily, to abstain 
from making war on the allies of Eome, to deliver prisoners 
and deserters without ransom, and to pay a tribute of 
twenty-two hundred talents of silver. Thus terminated 



* Polybius, Bk. I. 

f Justin says "seventy-two;" see Bk. XVIII. en. vi. Dio. Frag., 
Bk. XXII. ch. v., vi. 



HOME TO THE TIME OF AUGUSTUS CJ3SAR. 85 

the first war with Carthage after a continuance of twenty- 
four years (a.m. 3764). A peace of fourteen years afforded 
the Romans an opportunity to acquire a knowledge of the 
arts and sciences, by which the nations of Greece had been 
refined. Ambitious of intellectual as well as military fame, 
it was improved; and Rome soon presented enduring monu- 
ments of the perfection of her citizens in those departments 
of knowledge which for ages had distinguished her Eastern 
neighbors. 

The great foe of the commonwealth was humbled but 
not subdued.* After the conclusion of the first war with 
Rome, Carthage had been shaken to her centre by a contest 
with her mercenaries. Sardinia threw off her yoke. Upon 
bringing their mercenaries to terms, the Carthaginians 
attempted to regain this island. The Romans opposed 
them, liberated the island, and compelled Carthage to pay 
twelve hundred talents. The submission of the Carthagin- 
ians was coupled with a determination to break the peace 
as soon as they could acquire the pecuniary ability. When 
this point was attained, Hannibal, the son of Hamilcar, 
reared in a deadly hatred of Rome, was ordered to lay siege 
to Saguntum, a town in alliance with her. Hannibal, 
under the orders of the Carthaginian senate, marched from 
the Spanish town assailed for Italy, and having crossed the 
Alps in fifteen days, thrice defeated the Roman army. The 
Carthaginian then advanced unchecked to the south of 
Italy. Fabius Maximus was created pro-dictator, and 
Minucius Rufus master of horse. The coolness of the 
former and the impetuosity of the latter so divided the 
Roman populace that both were finally succeeded by Lucius 
iEmilius and Caius Terentius Varro, who were chosen con- 
suls, f Battle was at last joined at Cannse. During the 

* Polybius, Bk. II. Livy, Bk. XXI. f Livy, Bk. XXII. 



86 OUTLIKE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

first day iEmilius was in command, and the cunning and 
experience of Hannibal were equally unavailing. On the 
second day Cams took charge, and, departing from the 
prudent course of Fabius and iEmilius, the Eomans were 
conquered and cut to pieces. Had Hannibal marched im- 
mediately to Eome he might have terminated the existence 
of the republic; but either because he did not know how to 
improve a victory, or in consequence of not being able to 
rally his forces, he took up quarters at Capua. The 
luxuries of Italy enervated the Carthaginians, and the for- 
tunes of their general eventually underwent a total change.* 
The Eoman arms, triumphant at Nola, Arpi, and Capua, 
captured Syracuse, cut off the recruiting forces under 
Hasdrubal, and were victorious in Spain. Penetrating to 
the confines of Numidia, Scipio, the conqueror of Spain, 
became the terror of Carthage. Convinced that his object 
was to perform such exploits in Africa as their commander 
had executed in Italy, the Carthaginians recalled Hannibal, 
who had been sixteen years absent. Appearing upon his 
native soil, Hannibal took command of the troops. The 
attempts of the Africans at reconciliation proving abortive, 
a battle ensued in which the Eomans under Scipio were 
victorious. Carthage again sued for peace, which was 
granted to her upon condition of paying ten thousand 
talents of silver into the Eoman treasury in fifty years, of 
surrendering her ships and elephants, and of not making 
war in or out of Africa without the consent of Eome. 
Thus was peace restored after seventeen years spent in war. 
In the contest just terminated, Philip, king of Mace- 
donia, had favored the Carthaginians; Attalus, king of 
Pergamus, the Eomans. Soon after its conclusion word 
was sent to Eome that Philip was tampering with the 

*Livy, Bks. XXIII. to XXX., inclusive. 



ROME TO THE TIME OF AUGUSTUS CJESAK. 87 

states of Attalus. War was commenced against Philip 
(a.m. 3807), and he was stripped of all his power in Greece 
and Asia.* Antiochus, king of Syria, insisting upon his 
right to portions of Thrace which he asserted his grand- 
father Seleucus had conquered from Lysimachus, whom he 
had slain in battle, as also to the cities of Ionia and .zEtolia, 
the Eomans declared their intention to maintain the 
rights not only of Grecians in Greece, but of those settled 
in Asia, f Hannibal, who had fled from Carthage to the 
court of Antiochus, took advantage of these disputes and 
finally led the king into an open rupture with Eome. But 
his advice being disregarded, the Syrian with a small force 
entered Greece, sustained by the iEtolians. The Eomans 
shortly expelled him, and the iEtolians were obliged to sue 
for peace. Scipio, surnamed Asiaticus, with his brother 
Africanus, first invaded Asia, and with Eumenes, king of 
Pergamus, conquered Antiochus, compelling him to sue 
for peace, which was granted to him upon ceding to Eome 
all the countries west of Mount Taurus. Macedonia was 
subjected to a still deeper humiliation in the time of 
Perseus, son to Philip, when war was declared against it, 
because the monarch had violated the terms of the treaty 
made with his father. After some delay the contest was 
closed by Lucius iEmilius Paulus, when the kingdom was 
reduced to a Eoman province. J A territorial dispute be- 
tween Masinissa and Carthage led to a war between them. 
This occurrence and the vast naval preparations of the 
latter were considered breaches of treaty by Eome, and 
induced the third Punic war (a.m. 3858), which ended 

*Livy, Bks. XXXI. to XXXIII. Justin, Bks. XVI., XXIV., 
XXV. Plut. Demetrius. 

f Livy, Bks. XXXIV. to XXXVII. Jus., Bk. XXXI. Dio., 
Frag. Bk. XXVI. 

t Livy, Bks. XXXVIII. to XLV. Justin, Bk. XXXIII. 



88 OUTLIKE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

in the destruction of Carthage. About the same time 
Achaia was reduced and Corinth demolished. The posses- 
sions of the king of Pergamus fell to the lot of Rome by 
the dying bequest of At talus.* 

Rome, possessed of the best portions of the world, began 
to feel the fatal influences of luxury. An effort to limit 
the amount of property held by the citizens, according to 
ancient law, made successively by the two Gracchi, proving 
a failure, its authors suffered death. These domestic 
troubles gave place in the public mind to Nnmidian affairs. 
The injustice of Jugurtha led him to grasp a sceptre left by 
the deceased king of that country between himself and his 
two cousins. One of the brothers he killed; the other he 
expelled from the kingdom. The cause of the fugitive was 
embraced by the Roman senate, and a war commenced; 
which, though at first unsuccessful, eventually terminated in 
a complete triumph under Caius Marius. f An equally good 
fortune marked the operations of this general against the 
Teutons, Ambrogians, and Cimbrians. Marius, in order to 
procure the consulship a fourth time, aided in the enact- 
ment of an agrarian law and actually distributed money 
among the people. Domestic feuds were revived. The 
senate tried to destroy the equestrian order. Drusus, the 
plebeian tribune, intending to favor the former, held out 
to the people the hope of pecuniary aid; to the allies and 
the Italian states, the freedom of the city. In this manner 
the tribune procured the passage of agrarian and corn laws; 
got the senate an equal jurisdiction in criminal matters 
with the equestrian order; but not being able to perform 
his promise to the allies and states, his life paid the forfeit. 
Civil war ensued, which, after raging many years, was 

* Livy, Bk. XL VI., etc. Justin, Bk. XXXVI. ch. iv. 

f Livy's Fragments. Sallust's Jug. War. 



HOME TO THE TIME OF AUGUSTUS C^ISAR. 89 

terminated by Lucius Sylla, in the submission of most of 
the states.* 

Sulpicius, the tribune, procured the recall of many ban- 
ished persons; the distribution of newly-created citizens 
and the sons of citizens among the tribes; and the appoint- 
ment of Marius to the command against Mithridates, king 
of Pontus. The consuls Pompey and Sylla opposed these 
measures. In revenge for their opposition, the tribune 
killed Quintus, the son of one consul and the son-in-law 
of the other. Sylla raised a force, expelled Marius and 
Sulpicius from the city, but was himself soon expelled by 
Octavius, his colleague, and the tribunes. In his exile 
Sylla was reconciled to Marius. Alluring the Italian states 
to their cause by the promise of the freedom of the city, 
they regained possession of Eome. The most abandoned 
barbarities marked their sway. Marius soon died, but 
Sylla survived to triumph over Mithridates, recover Bithy- 
nia, regain Oappadocia, and obtain possession of supreme 
power, which he prostituted to still more wicked purposes 
than had disgraced the clays of his joint dominion, f Shortly 
after the death of Sylla (a.m. 3927), Quintus Sertorius, 
who had been proscribed by him, raised a war in Spain. 
Mithridates stirred up commotions in the East. Pompey 
is entitled to the credit of having suppressed both these 
formidable rebellions. These foreign disturbances were 
scarcely over when Catiline shook Eome to its centre by a 
conspiracy which had for its object the overthrow of the 
commonwealth. It was fortunately detected and defeated 
by Cicero, the consul. A revolution nevertheless took 
place. Power was seized by Caesar, Crassus, and Pompey. 

* Livy, Fragments of Bks. LXXI. to LXXVI. Dio. Frag. 

f Justin, Bk. XLIII. ch. v. Livy, Fragments of Bks. XC. to CII. 

Sallust, Con. of Catiline. Cses. Com. Livy's Fragments. Dio. 
Frag., Bk. XXXVII. 



90 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

Gaul and Germany were assigned to Caesar; Spain to Pom- 
pey; Syria and the Parthian war to Crassus. In the east- 
ern expedition Crassus lost his life. Caesar vanquished the 
Germans who had invaded Gaul; passed the Ehine; and 
penetrating Britain, reduced a portion of it. Such remark- 
able success excited the jealousy of Pompey. A law was 
therefore passed by his influence declaring that Caesar 
should give up his command and return home, when he 
presented himself for the consulship. Specious as this 
measure appeared, Caesar, regarding it as a mere trap, re- 
fused to comply unless Pompey would also resign his com- 
mand. A civil war ensued, which was concluded by Caesar's 
triumph at Pharsalia. Pompey fled to Egypt, where he 
was slain and his partisans finally destroyed. Eome, by 
the genius of Caesar, subdued Egypt, Gaul, Pontus, Africa, 
and Spain. These vast accessions of power conferring an 
unbounded popularity upon their author, he was declared 
perpetual dictator. But in this dangerous elevation Caesar 
was soon assailed. The plebeian tribunes charged him with 
aiming at royalty. The accusation was repelled by the 
dictator, and the tribunes were ejected from their office. 
A conspiracy ensued, and Caesar was assassinated in the 
senate-house.* Mark Antony, the consul, attempting to 
punish, the murderers of Caesar, brought upon himself the 
indignation of the senate. f A civil war ensued, in which 
he was overpowered by his enemies, who were commanded 
by Pansa, Hirtius, and Octavianus, nephew of the departed 
conqueror as well as heir to his name and fortune. Soon 
reconciled, however, to Antony by the intervention of 
Lepidus, the master of horse under Julius, Octavianus and 
his two friends took command of public affairs. Burning 
with revenge, the nephew commenced a dreadful proscrip- 

* Eu„ VI. f Eu., VII. 1-3. 



ROME TO THE TIME OF AUGUSTUS C.ESAR. 91 

tion among the enemies of his uncle. Brutus and Cassius, 
the chief conspirators in the assassination of Caesar, rallied 
their friends, and an engagement ensued at Philippi in 
Macedonia which was fatal to the lives of the leaders 
and the hopes of the party by which they had been sus- 
tained. 

Leaving Antony to take care of the provinces beyond 
sea, Octavianus returned to Home. The veterans were 
rewarded by a liberal distribution of money. Complaints 
followed from those whose property was taxed to make the 
donation. Lucius Antoninus headed a sedition which was 
countenanced by Fulvia, the wife of Antony the triumvir. 
It was, however, suppressed; but upon a second attempt 
she was repudiated by her husband, who married Octavia, 
the sister, of Octavianus. The movement of young Pompey 
in the East met a similar fate with these seditions in the 
capital, and Lepidus, who was connected with it, was de- 
prived of his share in the government, though his life was 
spared. Triumphant over the Japidse, Dalmatians, and 
Pannonians, Octavianus passed into Epirus to oppose An- 
tony, who, captivated with the charms of Cleopatra, the 
Egyptian queen, had divorced Octavia, and, protected by a 
powerful military force, refused either to appear at Eome 
or to resign his office in the triumvirate. Brought to a 
naval engagement at Actium, he was vanquished, and both 
husband and wife in despair destroyed their lives. Thus 
was Octavianus left in the sole possession of power; which 
he managed so adroitly as to secure to himself and to trans- 
mit to his successors the sceptre of- the greatest empire 
ever established. 

In reflecting upon the affairs of the empires that have 
passed in review, the mind is impressed with the signifi- 
cance of the imagery used by Daniel, the captive prophet 



92 OUTLIKE EVOLUTION" OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

at Babylon.* Although he spoke centuries before most 
of these powers existed (a.m. 3397), their distinctive 
characteristics are in conformity to his words. The 
Assyrians established the first and the most opulent 
empire of ancient times: which is appropriately rep- 
resented as gold. The Medes and Persians erected the 
next empire, which was less wealthy and a narrower 
domain than the former: which is described as silver, 
a metal not as valuable as gold. The Macedonians 
created the third empire; they were a poor people, and 
Alexander, their leader, gave no consistency to his con- 
quests, and they were soon broken in pieces: that empire 
is most strikingly denominated brass, a metal of less value 
than either gold or silver and of great brittleness, and of 
which the armor of Alexander's Greek soldiers was com- 
posed. The Eomans, a virtuous, brave, and enlightened 
people, after centuries of effort succeeded in founding 
the fourth empire, which was the most powerful one that 
ever existed: it is, portrayed as iron, the strongest of all 
metals. It broke " in pieces and bruised n all that pre- 
ceded it. 

Clearly as the distinctive characteristics of empires in 
all ages are pointed out by Daniel, he is no less precise in 
describing their succession in all periods of time. This he 
portrays figuratively by the image of the human body. 
Imperial power was to be vested at one time in "the head 
of gold," at another time in "the breasts of silver," again 
in "the belly and thighs of brass," then in "the legs of 
iron," and lastly in the "feet part of iron and part of clay." 
But in no instance was the unity of the body to be im- 
paired. How remarkably true has this always proved! 
The kingdoms that comprised the Assyrian Empire were 

*Dan. ii. 



ROME TO THE TIME OF AUGUSTUS C^SAR. 93 

the basis of Medo-Persian power, which passed into the 
hands of Alexander and his generals simply as trustees for 
the Komans, and being blended with their possessions 
formed but one empire, until it was divided into the East 
and the West; in the last of which its authority was revived 
by Charlemagne. Is not therefore the union of the mem- 
bers in the human body the most appropriate representa- 
tion of the succession of empires during all ages ? 

How amazing is the description of Daniel when consid- 
ered in the order of time! It was uttered over a century 
before the accession of Cyrus, called by name, in the 
prophecy of Isaiah (xlv. 1), as the deliverer of the Jews 
from Babylonian captivity; it was over two centuries an- 
terior to the time of Alexander the Great; near six centu- 
ries before the rise of the Koman Empire; about one thou- 
sand years before its division: and over fourteen centuries 
prior to the time of Charlemagne! 

Daniel's declarations as to the characteristics and suc- 
cession of empires have proved no more prophetic than 
the words of Noah as to their direction, uttered over three 
centuries and a half (a.m. 1684) before the first empire 
was founded. The sententious passage* of the antediluvian 
indicates Asia as the primitive seat of empire; the descend- 
ants of Shem as its founders; the subordination of all 
Ham's children in Africa; the western course of Japheth's 
sons; their extensive settlements in Shem's possessions, and 
their final absorption of the domains of both their broth- 
ers. Have not subsequent events verified this prophecy to 
the letter? Shem's descendants founded in Asia the first 
empire (a.m. 2040), and afterwards extended their power 
to Africa (a.m. 3474) in the time of Cambyses. The 

*Gen. ix. 2-4-27. Scott's Com. Newton's Dissertations on the 
Prophecies, pp. 1-25; Dis., i. 13, 14. 



94 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

Greeks, a portion of Japheth's children, made such vast and 
permanent settlements in Asia that the western part was 
called after them, Ionia. Finally, the Eomans, sprung from 
the blood of Japheth, erected their imperial standard 
throughout all the west, and being "enlarged" as no 
people ever were before or since their time, they encom- 
passed the three continents of Asia, Africa, and Europe 
and reigned supreme all over the world! 

The course of empires in all ages is described by the an- 
tediluvian prophet: "And Noah awoke from his wine, 
and knew what his younger son had done unto him. And 
he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he 
be unto his brethren. And he said, Blessed be the Lord 
God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. God shall 
enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; 
and Canaan shall be his servant." (Genesis ix. 24-27.) 

The foreshado wings of Daniel and Noah embrace all 
time, but are no less impressive and explicit, though 
grander, than those of Isaiah and Jeremiah: 

" Thou, king, sawest, and behold a great image. This 
great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before 
thee; and the form thereof was terrible. The image's head 
was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly 
and his thighs of brass, his legs of iron, his feet part of iron 
and part of clay." (Dan. ii. 31-33.) " This is the dream; 
and we will tell the interpretation before the king. Thou, 
king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given 
thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. And where- 
soever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field 
and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, 
and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head 
of gold. And after thee shall arise another kingdom in- 
ferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which 
shall bear rule over all the earth. And the fourth king- 



KOME TO THE TIME OF AUGUSTUS CJSSAR. 95 

dom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh 
in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh 
all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise." (vs. 36-40.) 

Daniel afterwards speaks in detail of the great powers 
predicted in his interpretation of the king's dream. 

Chap. vii. 3, 4 : "And four great beasts came up from 
the sea, diverse one from another. The first was like a lion, 
and had eagle's wings : I beheld till the wings thereof 
were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and 
made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was 
given to it." 

The ambition of the Chaldeans attempted to make Baby- 
lon as great as Nineveh had been under the Assy- 
rians, before its lion heart was destroyed and its wings 
plucked; but it was only "lifted up from the earth, and 
made to stand upon its feet as a man," and only had the 
heart of a man; that is to say, it became simply a local 
tyrant, never attained imperial power, and finally fell be- 
fore the arms of the Medes and Persians. 

Chap. vii. 5: "And behold another beast, a second, 
like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had 
three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it : and 
they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh." 

The conquests of the Medes and Persians were mainly 
on their own side— to the west of their dominions, as if 
within their reach or between their teeth. They subdued 
Lydia, Babylon, and Egypt. They aimed at "devouring 
much flesh," and attempted to conquer Thrace, Macedonia, 
and Greece, and thus produced national combinations 
which finally crushed them. 

Chap. vii. 6: "After this I beheld, and lo another, 
like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings 
of a fowl ; the beast had also four heads ; and dominion 
was given to it." 



96 OUTLIKE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

The Western nations, particularly the Greeks, were in- 
furiated by the incursions and cruelty of the Medes and 
Persians. Alexander the Great, as the leader and avenger 
of the former, pounced on the latter as a leopard, and his 
conquests were rapid beyond a parallel ; but after his death 
his vast dominions fell into four divisions. 

What follows renders the predictions about these powers 
still plainer. 

Chap. viii. 3 : " Then I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, 
and, behold, there stood before the river a ram which 
had two horns : and the two horns were high ; but 
one was higher than the other, and the higher came up 
last. I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, 
and southward ; so that no beasts might stand before him, 
neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand ; 
but he did according to his will, and became great." 

The diadems of the kings of Persia were like a ram's head, 
" and rams' heads with horns, one higher and the other 
lower, are still to be seen on the pillars at Persepolis" 
(Scott's comment on this place). This indicates that the 
Persians were more renowned than the Medes, as well as 
that in the division of power after the Babylonish con- 
quest, if not from the overthrow of Astyages, Darius the 
Mede should take precedence of his nephew Cyrus the 
Persian, who after his uncle's death succeeded to sole power. 

Chap. viii. 4 : i ' I saw the ram pushing westward, and 
northward, and southward ; so that no beasts might stand 
before him, neither was there any that could deliver out 
of his hand ; but he did according to his will, and be- 
came great." 

Cyrus conquered Lydia to the west, and Herodotus says 
he fell in his attempts on the Massagetae at the north; 
while Cambyses, his son, subdued Egypt. 

Chap. viii. 5-8 : " And as I was considering, behold, 



ROME TO THE TIME OF AUGUSTUS CESAR. 97 

a he-goat came from the west on the face of the whole 
earth, and touched not the ground : and the goat had a 
notable horn between his eyes. And he came to the ram 
that had two horns, which I had seen standing before the 
river, and ran unto him in the fury of his power. And I 
saw him come close unto the ram, and he was moved with 
choler against him, and smote the ram, and brake his two 
horns : and there was no power in the ram to stand before 
him, but he cast him down to the ground and stamped 
upon him : and there was none that could deliver the ram 
out of his hand. Therefore the he-goat waxed very great: 
and when he was strong, the great horn was broken ; and 
for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds 
of heaven." 

The Macedonians were called the "goat's people," and a 
goat was the national emblem. After Alexander united their 
power with the Greeks and thus obtained strength for his 
work, or, as the prophet says, " had a notable horn between 
his eyes," he passed with such rapidity from the west in 
assailing the Medo-Persian power that he scarcely seemed to 
"touch the ground," and ran upon his foe with such fury 
as to cast him down to the ground, by which overthrow he 
was completely disheartened ; so that the after-battles of 
Alexander were but stamping down the adversary. Hence 
the Macedonian passed forward to universal empire in half 
a score of years, but which was suddenly broken by his 
death, and his vast dominions divided among his four great 
generals — Cassander in Macedon and Greece ; Lysimachus 
in Thrace and the countries on the Hellespont and Bospho- 
rus ; Ptolemy in Egypt, Libya, Arabia, Syria, and Pales- 
tine ; and Seleucus in Chaldea, Persia, and the East. 

Imperial Eome finally subdued the kingdoms which 
had composed pre-existing empires, and swayed the desti- 
nies of the world ; thus verifying the words of Daniel con- 



98 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIEE AND PKOPHECY. 

cerning the fourth development of empire, which was to be 
as " a beast dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly ; 
and it had great iron teeth : it devoured and brake in 
pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it " (Dan. 
vii. 7). 

The after-periods of Eoman Empire ; its division into 
the Eastern and Western branches, and the overthrow of 
the latter by the northern nations ; and its attempted mix- 
ture with them, a§ well as the fate of the former by the 
followers of Mohammed, are announced in the words of the 
prophet to the ancient king : 

"And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of 
potters* clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be di- 
vided ; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, 
forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry 
clay. And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and 
part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and 
partly broken. And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with 
miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of 
men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron 
is not mixed with clay/' (Dan. ii. 41-43.) 

"The two consuls by whom the Romans were long 
governed, and the Eastern and Western Empires into 
which their dominions were at length divided, might 
be denoted by the two legs and feet on which the 
image stood ; and the ten toes into which the feet divided 
represented the ten kingdoms into which at length the 
whole empire was broken. The civil wars which weakened 
the state, and the conjunction of the Romans with the con- 
quered nations, and afterwards with the Goths, Vandals, 
and other barbarians who subverted the empire, is de- 
noted by the compounding of the iron with the potters' 
clay, which cannot unite or strengthen each other." (Scott 
in loc.) 



SOCIETY TO THE TIME OF THE CHRISTIAN ERA. 99 



CHAPTER V, 

THE STATE OF SOCIETY IIS" ALL EMPIRES TO THE COM- 
MENCEMENT OF THE CHRISTIAN ERA. — THE INCARNA- 
TION. — THE APOCALYPSE. 

It is impossible to understand the history of empires 
without considering the condition of their inhabitants, as 
well as the genius of their projectors. In conducting this 
inquiry, the safest mode is to master undisputed facts before 
attempting to comprehend the ingenious refinements of the 
commentators. The succeeding details are presented as 
an auxiliary in the application of this suggestion. 

The Egyptians claim to be considered the parents of 
science and the framers of good government.* Whether 
this pre-eminence is accorded to them or not, an impartial 
mind will admit the excellence of many of their institu- 
tions and attainments. 

The government of Egypt was regal; but the reflecting 
and moral tendency of the people imposed upon it such 
restraints as rendered it less oppressive there than in some 
other portions of the world. The leading feature in the 
system was the strict subordination of the king to im- 
memorial custom. In other nations the will of the 
monarch was regarded as the standard of civil right and 
wrong. The king of Egypt, on the contrary, no matter 
how venerable, how powerful, how ancient the dynasty 
from which he arose, was considered as first in obligation 
to maintain the laws, by submitting to them himself and 
by enforcing their execution on all classes of society. The 

*Dio. Sic, Bk. I. ch. i., vi., vii. Her., Euterpe. 



100 OUTLIKE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

better to prepare him for this work, he was subjected to a 
rigorous probation in early life. Nor was he allowed, when 
he came to the throne, to depart from the rules of his 
pupilage. Diet was calculated with a strict regard to the 
subjection of passion and the sway of reason. At break of 
day the king was required to be present at the chamber of 
state, where he examined the communications which 
claimed immediate attention. After the performance of 
this duty, the monarch and ministers repaired to the 
temple, witnessed the services of the altar, and offered peti- 
tions to Heaven for the blessings of a calm temper, a sense 
of right, and an appreciation of those virtues that adorn 
and a hatred of those vices which debase the head of a 
nation. The administration of justice was committed to 
thirty judges, who were commissioned by the king. 
Ample revenues were provided for these functionaries so as 
to preserve them from corruption and to enable them to 
devote their time exclusively to public affairs. The causes 
brought before the court were submitted in writing. 

Egyptian laws present many remarkable features. De- 
liberate murder was treated as the highest offence of which 
man can be guilty. The perjurer was punished with 
death, like the murderer. He who neglected or refused to 
aid a fellow-being attacked by the hand of violence was 
liable to severe punishment. Local magistrates were bound 
to keep a register of all persons within their precincts. 
Debts were only payable out of the debtor's goods ; his 
body being regarded as the property of the public, was not 
liable, on this account, to imprisonment. Adulteration of 
the coin, making false money, contriving false weights, 
counterfeiting seals, forging deeds, razing public records, 
were punished by the loss of the culprit's hands. Adul- 
tery and rape were followed by mutilation and stripes. 
Parents who killed their children were compelled to hug 



SOCIETY TO THE TIME OF THE CHRISTIAN ERA. 101 

their dead bodies for three nights and days ; but children 
who killed their parents were laid upon thorns, tortured, 
and then burnt alive. Age was respected, as indicating ex- 
perience and knowledge. 

Notwithstanding the excellent features of some of these 
laws, this ancient nation allowed a man, if not a priest, to 
have many wives, and compelled its people to worship 
many gods. No objects of worship were presented but 
those which addressed the senses. The sun, called Osiris, 
and the moon, styled Isis, were their two chief gods ; which 
together with the quickening emcacy, the heat, the dry- 
ness, the moisture, and the air existing in the physical 
world, personified under the names of Jupiter, Vulcan, 
Matera, Oceana, and Minerva, composed the celestial 
divinities. Begotten by these were a throng of terrestrial 
gods too tedious for enumeration, but who in reality were 
only men rendered immortal by their wisdom or benevo- 
lence. Besides, divine regard was had for a countless cata- 
logue of animals, such as the ox, the dog, the wolf, the 
hawk, the crocodile, and the cat. In the Egyptian myth- 
ology are found the elements from which most of the 
heathen nations formed their religious systems. 

Nothing is more remarkable in the customs of this peo- 
ple than the manner in which they treated the dead. A 
solemn inquisition was held upon the past actions of the 
deceased. If it was determined that the conduct of the 
deceased had been, in the main, bad, the rite of common 
burial was refused; but if, on the contrary, it was decided 
to have been good, it was decreed. So exceptionless was 
this rule in its application that even kings were not above 
its operation. 

Artificers, husbandmen, and shepherds were the ordinary 
classes among the Egyptians. The attention of the nation 
had been directed in the earliest periods to the improve- 



102 OUTLIKE EVOLUTION" OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

ment of the soil. The Nile abounded in works conducive 
to the welfare of the people. This river is subject to 
periodical inundations, from which the adjacent land de- 
rives great fertility. Public authority directed these to be 
ascertained ; notice to be given of them throughout the 
country; and the inhabitants were thus enabled to form 
accurate calculations as to the forthcoming harvest. The 
fecundity of the soil was proverbial. Three or four 
different crops were raised in the same year. The first 
consisted of lettuce and cucumbers, the next of corn, and 
after the harvest was gathered several kinds of pulse were 
produced. A communication from the Red Sea to the 
Mediterranean, opened by a canal, afforded an ample chan- 
nel of transportation for the products of the citizens, and 
furnished the readiest opportunity for improving the state 
of the surrounding country. 

The army numbered about four hundred thousand men 
for the peace establishment. The Egyptians, however, 
were by no means a warlike people. When centuries old 
they could not, in recounting the events of their history, 
point to any military achievements except those which the 
memory of Sesostris recalled. Still this people for ages 
governed the refined portions of the world and exerted an 
influence which neither Cyrus nor Caesar ever attained: 
and to this hour he who contemplates the pyramids, the 
obelisks, the temples, the palaces, the labyrinth, recognizes 
much that serves to explain the extraction of the exact 
sciences. 

Carthage, the great African metropolis, was settled by 
a colony from the far-famed city of Tyre. The system of 
religion established by its settlers was pagan. Among the 
most famous of their deities was the goddess Caelestus, or 
the moon, and Saturn. The former was invoked in times 
of calamity, particularly during periods of drought ; while 



SOCIETY TO THE TIME OF THE CHRISTIAN" ERA. 103 

the latter, noticed in the Sacred Scriptures under the name 
Moloch, was the divinity propitiated by the dying shrieks of 
innocent infants.* Horrible as are the details of this cere- 
mony, the Carthaginians were considered a people of pro- 
found wisdom. Their constitution was regarded by Aristotle 
as a model in politics ; and for five centuries the citizens were 
not disturbed by sedition nor oppressed by tyranny. Two 
officers called saffetes, chosen annually, were invested with 
the administration. To these belonged the convocation of 
the senate, the proposal to it of such measures as the 
public good required, and the collection of the votes of the 
senators. What number composed the senate is not 
known. Its members were chosen from that class which 
was considered most likely to conserve the public interests. 
Its decisions were ascertained by majorities ; but if there 
was a division, an appeal lay from their authority to the 
people in their assemblies. This troublesome and expen- 
sive process was rarely adopted, the power of both the 
senate and the executive being sufficiently guarded by 
what was denominated the Tribunal of the Hundred. 
Eventually, when wealth and luxury increased, factions 
became powerful, the balance of the system was destroyed, 
and the establishment precipitated into anarchy. Two glar- 
ing defects have been noticed in the African government. 
The one was the multiplicity of offices which one man was 
permitted to exercise ; the other was the necessity for 
wealth in order to take part in any public service. 

The basis of commerce has in all ages been the command 
of the Eastern trade, f King David, the founder of Jewish 
greatness, having conquered the land of Edom, obtained 

* Justin, Bk. XVIII. cb. iii. to vii.; Bk. XIX. Polybius, Bk. 
VI. ck. ii. 

fPrideaux's Con., Bk. I. pp. 118-122. Rob. Hist. Am., Vol. I. 
cb. i. 



104 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIEE AND PEOPHECY. 

control over the coast of the Red Sea. Two ports, Elath and 
Esion-geber, were seized and the trade of the Indies secured. 
Solomon improved upon the work of his father ; the gold, 
silver, ivory, and precious stuffs of Ophir and Tarshish 
fell into the possession of his people, and they obtained 
command of the trade of the world. It was retained by 
them until the Syrians snatched it away in the reign of 
Ahaz. Tyre afterwards became the possessor of the Eastern 
monopoly. She enjoyed it, under the patronage of the 
Persian princes, down to the time that the Ptolemies pre- 
vailed in Egypt. Myos-Hormos, founded by these monarchs 
on the western side of the Red Sea, then became the mart 
of Eastern produce. 

Commerce was the absorbing occupation of the Car- 
thaginians. They traversed the Mediterranean Sea and 
passed beyond the straits in its pursuit. Erom Egypt they 
obtained flax, paper, and corn; from India, by way of the 
Red Sea, spices, frankincense, perfumes, gold, pearls, and 
precious stones; from their parent-land, Tyre and Phoenicia, 
purple, scarlet, costly furniture, tapestry, rich stuffs, and 
works of exquisite fabric, which they bore to the western 
world. Here they were exchanged for iron, tin, lead, and 
copper, which were disposed of at immense profits on the 
return to the East. In the course of commercial specula- 
tions among the Spaniards, the Carthaginians discovered 
them to be ignorant of the precious metals which were con- 
cealed in their soil. Taking advantage of this ignorance, 
some articles of trifling value were passed upon the Spanish 
people in exchange for their lands, which placed extensive 
gold and silver mines at the command of Carthage. 

The military power of the African capital was con- 
siderable. Her strength, however, in this respect consisted 
more in her wealth and maritime knowledge than in her 
soldiers, though she could boast of having produced in 



SOCIETY TO THE TIME OF THE CHRISTIAN ERA. 105 

Hannibal one of the ablest commanders the world ever 
saw. The bulk of her armies was composed of mercenary 
troops. Numidia furnished her with cavalry; the Balearic 
Isles with practised slingers; an unconquerable infantry 
came from Spain; Genoa and Gaul swelled her ranks with 
bold and powerful troops; and Greece supplied her with 
its invincible phalanx. 

In the pursuit of money the Carthaginians neglected 
the sciences. Education among them was confined to the 
knowledge of reading, writing, arithmetic, and book- 
keeping. Their libraries, though extensive, were arrayed in 
so much pomp that none ventured to disturb them ; and 
they boast of no men of letters except Hannibal and Mago, 
Hasdrubal and Terence. 

Monarchy was established in the Eastern Empire in its 
most stringent form.* A body consisting of seven coun- 
cillors was the only curb upon the emperor. It is true 
the judiciary was guarded with great caution and became 
a protection to the people. Commissions were issued only 
to persons of fifty years of age, well skilled in the laws, and 
of good reputation for talents and integrity. After the 
judge was appointed he was still guarded in the exercise 
of his functions by the dread of a disgraceful punishment 
in case he proved false to the trust reposed in him. 

Three remarkable usages existed among the Persians. 
Although they inflicted capital punishment, no one was 
subjected to it for the first offence. In estimating crime, 
they acted upon the principle that if the offender's merits 
exceeded his demerits he was not the subject of condemna- 
tion. The accused in all cases was brought face to face 
with his adversary, and had the fullest opportunity to pre- 
pare for his defence. 

*Hei\, Clio. Dio., Bk. II. ch. iii. Xen., In. Cyrus, Bk. VIII. 



106 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIKE AND PROPHECY. 

Cyrus not only knew how to conquer, but he understood 
how to govern. The empire was divided into provinces, 
each of which was placed under a governor called a satrap. 
A supervisory power was exercised over all of them by 
the emperor in person; or, if that was impossible, it was 
reposed in some person of tried character, who in the dis- 
charge of his duties travelled from province to province. 
The viceroy did not suppose he could acquit himself to his 
master by merely attending to the acts done by the satraps, 
but carefully reported the condition of the subjects in 
every department, suggesting the improvements desired or 
needed in commerce, agriculture, and the arts. The exe- 
cution of a system so vast in its operations induced the 
emperor to establish regular communications by posts and 
couriers. 

Cyrus brought the military art to the highest perfection. 
Youth was the time at which he commenced making a sol- 
dier. At twenty years of age persons were permitted to 
enter the army. None were compelled to serve after 
arriving at the fiftieth year. From the vast body of those 
fit to bear arms the monarch selected ten thousand on ac- 
count of their superior physical powers, who were in con- 
stant attendance upon his person. This guard was deco- 
rated in a style of extravagance which distinguished it 
from the troops that composed the army. It was also pecu- 
liar in its name, being called the Immortals, from the fact 
that its number was never diminished; a successor being 
instantly added upon the death of any of its members. The 
armor of a soldier consisted of a sabre or dagger, which 
was suspended from the right side, and of two javelins, 
one of which was used to fling and the other in close fight. 
A cuirass composed of brass covered the body. Some 
doubt exists as to whether the Persians used helmets; but it 
is quite certain they used shields of enormous size. Cha- 



SOCIETY TO THE TIME OF THE CHRISTIAN ERA. 107 

riots armed with scythes, cumbersome but destructive in- 
struments of warfare, were much improved by Cyrus. 
Walled cities and towns presented great obstacles to sur- 
mount, upon the ancient principles of warfare. Four 
methods were then known. A complete enclosure was 
formed, so as to force the place into terms by the horrors 
of famine. The tediousness and expense of this process 
gave rise to the invention of scaling-ladders. A large num- 
ber of these being raised at the same time, a sufficient force 
was elevated to make an entrance into the place besieged. 
But a counter-movement being got up in the erection of 
towers above the walls, from which the assailants were 
checked, a scheme was adopted to balance this* advantage 
by raising movable towers. These dangerous and uncer- 
tain inventions gave place to the battering-ram, by which 
a breach was made in the walls and through it the besieg- 
ers entered. Equally successful was the other process of 
undermining the foundation of the structure attacked, in 
consequence of which it was demolished or prepared for 
immediate overthrow by the application of the ram. 

Very imperfect information is communicated of the 
state of the arts in the ancient Eastern empires, except 
what is afforded of their skill in architecture by the works 
already noticed. Music, it may be fairly inferred from 
many customs which existed among them, had made 
considerable progress. The healing art was gradually per- 
fected by a curious but correct process. Patients who 
were laboring under disease were put in some conspicuous 
place. If any one passed who had seen a similar case and 
knew a remedy, he communicated his knowledge. Upon 
the success of the prescription it was recorded, and thus 
was established the system of medicine so far as known in 
the East. Astronomy led nearly all the Asiatics into judi- 
cial astrology, by which they professed to declare the fate 



108 OUTLINE EVOLUTION" OF EMPIRE AND PEOPHECY. 

of every person. Not only were they guilty of this misap- 
plication of what they knew, but a sin more gross was com- 
mitted by them in worshipping the sun, which they knew 
ought not to be the object of devotion. These charges, 
which apply to all the ancients, induce the candid mind to 
admit and admire the truth contained in the laconic ex- 
pression of the apostle Paul that " when they knew God, 
they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but 
became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart 
was darkened " (Eom. i. 21). 

The condition of Athens and Sparta affords a key to the 
state of all the republics of Greece.* Monarchical power, 
which had been exercised at Sparta from time immemorial 
by two kings, was reformed by Lycurgus, who flourished 
about a.m. 3120. A senate was constituted by him com- 
posed of twenty-eight members taken from the venerable 
and learned of the community. The kings presided in this 
body, but their influence was rendered almost nugatory by 
their bickerings and the jealousy of the senators. This 
tribunal in the course of time became dangerous, and the 
ephori were instituted as a guard and check to both kings 
and senators. These officers were five in number, and held 
the trust reposed in them only for a year. An appeal lay 
to the popular assemblies from the decision of the senate. 
After all the nicety with which this political machine was 
balanced, the Spartans were indebted to their system of 
education for the decorum and order that marked the trans- 
action of their public affairs. The domestic economy of 
Lycurgus expanded the moral energies of the people. 
Labor was made respectable, indolence rendered con- 
temptible. Poverty was held in high esteem, as indicating 

* Her., Ter. Xenophon's At. and Sp. Keps. Jus., Bk. II. ch. vi. 
to ix. ; Bk. III. ch. iii. Dio. Sic, Bk. V. ch. i. 



SOCIETY TO THE TIME OF THE CHRISTIAN ERA. 109 

honesty and as calculated to improve the social virtues. 
Commercial pursuits were regulated by law, and gold and 
silver money gave place to a currency of iron. 

A reformation was effected also in Athens, by Solon, 
about a.m. 3426. The senate, whose numbers at times had 
risen as high as from two to three hundred, was improved 
by a fairer representation of the four classes into which the 
people were divided. A balance against the excesses of its 
power was instituted in the Areopagus. The tenure of the 
archons, who held the judicial power, was reduced, and 
from being officers for life they were finally subjected to 
annual change. Popular assemblies were elevated to their 
proper position. Ceasing to be the instruments of dema- 
gogues, they became the means of providing for the com- 
mon weal. Notice being duly circulated, apprised every 
one of the exact object of their convocation. After sacri- 
fices and invocation of the gods, the president propounded 
distinctly the object of the convention, which was canvassed 
by speakers on both sides of the question. The vote was 
ascertained by counting the extended hands of the multi- 
tude. If the measure was approved by a majority it was 
reduced to writing and twice read aloud, when it was put 
to a final vote. 

Gymnastic exercises were fashionable among the Athen- 
ian youth. Dancing and the feats of the palaestra were 
considered healthful. Still more attention was paid to the 
development of the mental faculties. The course of study 
embraced poetry, eloquence, philosophy, and mathematics. 
The works of Plato and Aristotle communicate an idea of 
the thorough character of Grecian learning. The Spartans 
did not devote an equal attention to the attainment of 
science. So steadily were these capitals divided that war 
appears to have been the only common result at which they 
ever arrived. The reason for this disunion can be traced 



110 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

in the tempers and habits of the two people. The Athen- 
ians were quick in perception, volatile in disposition, frank 
in manners, generous in habits, ambitious in desires. The 
Spartans were calculating in temper, deliberate in action, 
plodding in pursuit, expansive in views, unchangeable in 
purpose. 

Notwithstanding their perfection in science and glory in 
arms, the Grecians adhered to a system of religion which 
merely enjoined the observance of feasts and the consulta- 
tion of oracles, the conducting of games and the display of 
scenic representations. Their three great feasts were the 
Panatheneia, those of Bacchus, and Eleusis. The first was 
in honor of Minerva, the tutelary goddess of Athens, and 
was divided into the greater and lesser; the latter cele- 
brated yearly, the former every fourth year. The exer- 
cises consisted in racing, feats of strength, and contests for 
the prizes of music and poetry, followed by a procession of 
persons from all classes and of all ages. The Bacchanalian 
orgies were divided like the former, and in their celebra- 
tion were not dissimilar from them. They took place in 
the open field about autumn. Such was their effect upon 
public morals that during their continuance Plato says 
he has seen the whole population of Athens inebriated. 
The Eleusinian feasts were styled, by way of pre-emi- 
nence, the Mysteries. These were divided like the former, 
the one being celebrated in August, the other in Novem- 
ber. Mythology assigns as their origin that when Pluto 
had carried away Proserpine, the daughter of Ceres, the 
mother came to Eleusis in search of the daughter, and 
finding the country distressed by a famine, she invented 
the culture of corn and taught the people the principles of 
humanity. In addition to the grandeur with which they 
were celebrated during the space of nine days, they were 
attended with rites which a becoming sense of decorum has 



SOCIETY TO THE TIME OF THE CHEISTIAK EEA. Ill 

buried in oblivion. Many cities of Greece were famous for 
their oracles, but none was so much consulted as that at 
Delphi. The Grecian games were the Olympic, celebrated 
at Olympia every four years, in honor of Jupiter Olympi- 
cus; the Pythian, at Delphi every four years, sacred to 
Apollo Pythius, who killed the serpent Python; the 
JSTemaean, at Nemaea, instituted in memory of Hercules, 
who slew the lion in the Nemaean forest, solemnized every 
two years; and the Isthmian, on the Isthmus of Corinth, in 
honor of Neptune, which occurred every four years. In 
all these games the feats were those of strength or racing, 
and the prize was a wreath of wild olive, laurel, or parsley: 
thus simple to indicate that honorable ambition alone 
should be the motive to great actions. Tragic or comic 
representations were in repute, and are considered by the 
most dispassionate writers to have been very destructive to 
the interests of Greece. 

The ordinary revenue of the Attic republic was derived 
from a tax on the silver-mines, agricultural pursuits, the 
sale of woods, the operations of commerce, and on the 
powers in alliance with or under the protection of the 
commonwealth. A tax was levied upon the citizen in 
great emergencies. Whenever a fine was imposed and col- 
lected it replenished the common treasury. 

The Eomans were divided by Romulus into three 
tribes, which were ranged in ten portions called curias.* 
The first were increased from time to time as the popula- 
tion demanded; the latter remained unchanged. Each 
curia was directed by an officer, over all of whom presided 
a chief. One thousand foot-soldiers and one hundred 
horse were furnished by each tribe. The revenue arising 



* Adam's and Kennett's Roman Antiquities. Livy. Polybius, 
Book VI. 



112 OUTLINE EVOLUTION" OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

from this organization was applied to the service of re- 
ligion, the king's use, and the wants of the curiae. The 
nation was distinguished in the early ages by the patrician 
and plebeian ranks; in later times a third order was con- 
stituted, called the equestrian, which sprang from the 
horsemen furnished by the tribes. 

The senate was composed of one man from each tribe 
and three from each curia. It was increased and dimin- 
ished from time to time, rising under Julius Caesar to nine 
hundred; sinking in the reign of Augustus to six hundred. 
Bank and wealth were indispensable to the attainment of 
senatorial honors. Senators were distinguished as well by 
their dress as the places which they occupied on religious 
solemnities and at scenic displays. The senate, though 
not possessed of the law-making power independent of the 
popular assemblies, was supreme in its decrees on religion, 
the finances, the provinces, ambassadors, public triumphs, 
the treatment of common enemies, mitigating the severity 
or absolving from the obligation of law, postponing popu- 
lar convocations, and controlling the conduct of the citi- 
zens in case of public danger or calamity. The tribunes 
of the people controlled senatorial action simply by their 
veto. Each plebeian was bound to choose a patrician, who 
was compelled to advance his interests and guard his rights: 
and thus was created the relation of patron and client. 
The nation was portioned into clans, and these clans into 
families. Hence the more important citizens had three 
names; the first arising from some peculiarity, the second 
derived from his clan, and the third from his family. 
Some kinds of criminals and prisoners of war were made 
slaves. The power of the master was so absolute as to 
extend even to the life of the slave. An alleviation for the 
misery of this condition was provided by law in the process 
of emancipation. 



SOCIETY TO THE TIME OE THE CHRISTIAN - ERA. 113 

After the abolition of regal power, the executive and 
judicial functions were reposed in the consuls, who were 
elected by the people. Their military duties calling them 
often from the capital, the administration of justice was 
committed to officers called praetors. While the empire 
was confined to Italy only two praetors were chosen, but 
as it extended its limits the number was increased. The 
censors supervised the registration of the citizens, the 
valuation of property, and the imposition of taxes. When 
first created, they were two in number and served for five 
years. That period was subsequently abridged, and the 
powers of these officers so increased as to embrace a 
general purview of public morals and public works. Upon 
the aediles devolved the duty of taking care of the thea- 
tres, baths, temples, roads, sewers, and the buildings of 
the city, as well as of inspecting the produce in the 
markets, guarding the citizens against frauds from false 
measures and weights, limiting the expense of funerals, 
restraining the avarice of usurers, abating nuisances, and 
protecting religion. The quaestors collected and disbursed 
public moneys. Minor officers existed, who respectively 
supervised the condition of slaves and prisons, controlled 
the operations of the mint, protected property from fire, 
attended to the streets by day and guarded the city by 
night. Great emergencies gave rise to other officers, the 
principal of which was a dictator, created by the magis- 
trates alone. So jealous were the citizens of this func- 
tionary that his power was limited to a duration of six 
months ; nor did it extend to the treasury without sena- 
torial or popular sanction, and was so restrained that he 
could not go out of Italy or ride on horseback without 
the citizens' consent. The provinces were controlled at 
first by praetors; afterwards pro-consuls and pro-praetors, 
United with quaestors and lieutenants, were invested with 



114 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

the rule. A horde of underlings were attached to the 
magistrates, such as clerks and lictors, who executed their 
orders and protected their persons. 

The laws by which the empire was governed were con- 
tained in the Twelve Tables.* These treat of lawsuits, 
thefts and robberies, loans and the rights of the creditor 
over the debtor, parents of families, inheritances and 
guardianship, property and possession, trespasses and dam- 
ages, estates in the country, rights of the people, funerals 
and solemnities relating to the dead, matters of religion, 
marriages and the rights of the husband. Plain as was 
this system of jurisprudence, ingenious construction in 
the course of time buried it under a multiplicity of forms. 
The connection of patron and client, originally estab- 
lished for the best of reasons, was perverted to the worst 
of purposes. So completely technical did the advice of 
the former become, when transformed into the quibbling 
lawyer, that the latter was deprived of all the advantage 
which the relation was designed to confer. The general 
features of Eoman jurisprudence may be briefly defined. 
Personal injuries and infractions of public law occupied 
the time of the judiciary. There was a wisdom which 
marked the Roman mode of proceeding in the first class 
of cases which might be imitated with advantage by all 
nations. It was incumbent on a complainant to com- 
mune, or, at all events, to attempt a communion, with his 
adversary before he embroiled him in a lawsuit. Should 
the monition which this preliminary implied prove un- 
availing, the praetor issued his writ. Upon the appear- 
ance of the parties, a body of persons were selected, which, 
being qualified according to legal solemnity, heard and 
determined the case. The award being returned to the 

* 1 Kent's Com., sec. 23. Adam's Rom. Antiq., pp. 352-9. 



SOCIETY TO THE TIME OF THE CHRISTIAN ERA. 115 

praetor, the case was under his control, unless removed 
for the correction of error to a higher tribunal. Offenders 
against public law in early times were tried at a popular 
forum; but at later periods they were disposed of by the 
praetors, assisted by a jury of citizens. The punishments 
of criminals were imprisonment and bonds, scourging and 
mutilation, infamy and banishment, slavery and death. 

Religion was established and supported by the state. 
The priests were selected from distinguished families. 
Their number varied with the times; at one period being 
as low as four, and rising in the reign of Sylla to fifteen. 
A chief was chosen from among them, who, until Crassus 
was invested with the high-priesthood, was not allowed 
to go beyond the bounds of Italy. Beside this college, 
which directed the sacred concerns of the republic, there 
were three other religious offices. The augurs pretended 
to predict events by the appearance of celestial bodies, 
the flight of birds, accidental occurrences, and the inspec- 
tion of the entrails of the victims at the sacrifices. The 
quindecemviri had the custody of the Sibylline books, 
which were asserted to be of divine origin and to unfold 
the destiny of Borne. The septemviri prepared the sacred 
feasts, games, and processions. 

Objects of worship were divided into the higher and the 
inferior deities. The former were twelve in number; the 
latter increased with such rapidity that eventually the 
Pantheon groaned beneath their weight. Devotion con- 
sisted in prayers, vows, and sacrifices. 

The year originally consisted of ten months, named as 
at present from the month of March. Numa added the 
months of January and February, making the year contain 
three hundred and fifty-five days, which exceeded the Gre- 
cian computation one day. A difference followed between 
lunar and solar calculation of ten days, five hours, and 



116 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

forty-nine minutes. Provision was made against this dis- 
crepancy by an extraordinary month which was attached to 
every other year. The intercalating was left to the priests, 
who, despite their sacred vows, frequently arranged time 
to serve the purposes of ambition. Julius Csesar deter- 
mined to destroy this chance for fraud. Sosigenes, his 
astronomer, matured the present arrangement into months 
and years, which has undergone but two changes. Pope 
Gregory in the year 1582 deducted ten days between the 
fourth and fifteenth of October, so as to make the civil 
correspond with the solar year. A similar excision of 
eleven days between the second and fourteenth of Septem- 
ber was made in the year 1752 in England. In the reign 
of the emperors, the creation of weeks was adopted from 
the Hebrews, the original division of the months having 
been into calends, so called from the annunciation of a 
new moon by the priests; ides, being the thirteenth day 
or the dividing period, nearly, of the month; and nones, 
which reckoned nine days from the last time or the middle 
of the month. The days of the week derived their 
respective names from the planets, and were subjected to 
two divisions; the first, styled the civil, from midnight to 
midnight; the natural, from sunrise to sunset. The night 
was distinguished by three watches. 

Festivals occurred every month. During their continu- 
ance a partial or entire suspension of business prevailed. 
In the opinion of the Komans, this time was religiously 
employed in witnessing the displays of the circus, the 
contests of gladiators, and the mimicries of the drama. 

Sacrifices were prevalent throughout the world from the 
remotest periods of antiquity. Animals were mostly the 
victims laid on the altar; but among many nations human 
beings were devoted. The reason ordinarily assigned in 
ancient times for the institution was that its observance 



SOCIETY TO THE TIME OF THE CHRISTIAN ERA. 117 

procured the divine favor; upon what principle or for 
what reason, the wisest of the pagan philosophers do not 
pretend to tell.* But that on which the oracles of the old 
world were dumb becomes plain under the teachings of 
Eevelation. The direction of this unerring guide points by 
AbeFs offering to the perfect work which the " woman's 
seed " was to accomplish. AbeFs faith led him to abandon 
all human works as a ground of justification before God; 
and notwithstanding Cain's rage was incurred by disavow- 
ing his way of salvation by works, the protomartyr willingly 
yielded his life in defence of the truth of God. Noah re- 
proclaimed the same doctrine by the sacrifice he offered 
soon after the waters of the flood subsided, f The patriarch 
of an apostate and the parent of a believing world may 
have supposed that the way of salvation would not again be 
subverted by his descendants. Five centuries, however, 
scarcely passed before men were so corrupt that the sole 
mode by which the agent in the introduction of sin and 
the promised one by whom it was to be destroyed were 
presented to mankind was by idols of gold in the Temple of 
Belus.J The Jews were the only people who offered sacri- 
fices under proper views of their nature. But even among 
them the masses were ignorant of the spirituality of their 
own institutions. A remnant nevertheless saw in them a 
foreshadowing of a mighty offering that was to be made for 
sin. To this end pointed the ceremonials of Moses and the 
predictions of Isaiah. § 

What was the divine purpose in allowing ages to intervene 
between the publication of the promise of salvation and the 

* Her., Calliope, 61, 62. Livy, Bks. XXXIV., LV. ; Bk. XXXIX. 
ch. viii.-xviii. Xen. Soc, Bk. IV. ch. iv. 
f Gen. iii. 14, 15; iv. 2-8; viii. 20. 
% Dio. Sic., B. II. ch. i. 
§ Lev. Is. liii. Luke xxiii. 9. John xviii. 14; xix. 16-18. 



118 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

period of its performance no human power has ever discov- 
ered. All that can be said is, "Even so, Father; for so it 
seemed good in thy sight" (Luke x. 21). Still it must be 
admitted that the most proper time for the completion of 
this scheme of grace was when the nations of the world 
were in the best state for receiving the tidings of it. Under 
the sway of the two first Eoman emperors the facilities for 
intercommunication were greater than at any preceding 
period. The advent of the Lord Jesus Christ, therefore, 
on the first occasion of this description was emphatically 
"in the fulness of the time" (Gal. iv. 4). As the antitype 
was manifested, sacrificial offerings, which formed the type, 
began to disappear and finally vanished, just as the bright- 
est star of the firmament ceases to be seen when the sun 
arises. The work of redemption begun in Eden by a 
promise, and continued through the Mosaic age of symbols, 
by a miracle was at last consummated on Calvary, when 
its author, having offered " the one sacrifice for sin, forever 
sat down at the right hand of God " (Heb. x. 12). 

The language of prophecy on this subject is very plain. 

Isaiah liii. 4-9: " Surely he hath borne our griefs, 
and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, 
smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for 
our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the 
chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his 
stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; 
we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord 
hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, 
and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: He is 
brought as a lamb to the .slaughter, and as a sheep before 
her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He 
was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall 
declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of 
the living: for the transgression of my people was he 



SOCIETY TO THE TIME OF THE CHRISTIAN ERA. 119 

stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and 
with the rich in his death; because he had done no vio- 
lence, neither was any deceit in his mouth." 

Luke xxiii. 9: " Then he [Herod] questioned with him 
in many words; but he answered him nothing." 

John xviii., 14: " Now Oaiaphas was he, which gave 
counsel to the Jews, that it was expedient that one man 
should die for the people." V. 40: "Then cried they 
all again, Not this man, but Barabbas." Ch. xix. 16-18: 
" And they took Jesus, and led him away. And he 
bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place 
of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha: where 
they crucified him, and two others with him, on either 
side one." 

Matt, xxvii. 13,14: "Then said Pilate unto him, 
Hearest thou not how many things they witness against 
Thee? And he answered him to never a word; insomuch 
that the governor marvelled greatly." V. 27-31: "Then 
the soldiers of. the governor took Jesus into the common 
hall, and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers. 
And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe. 
And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it 
upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they 
bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, 
Hail, King of the Jews! And they spit upon him, and 
took the reed, and smote him on the head.- And after 
that they had mocked him, they took the robe off from 
him, and put his own raiment on him, and led him away 
to crucify him." V. 57-60: "When the even was come, 
there came a rich man of Arimathea, named Joseph, who 
also was Jesus' disciple: he went to Pilate, and begged 
the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to 
be delivered. And when Joseph had taken the body, he 
wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his own 



120 OUTLINE EVOLUTION" OF EMPIEE AND PROPHECY. 

new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock: and he 
rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and de- 
parted." 

A kingdom founded against human expectations and 
without man's instrumentality was the result of this won- 
derful display of mercy and power. The work is the bur- 
den of prophecy under the former and under the present 
dispensation (Dan. ii. 34, 35, 44, 45 ; Eev. iv.-xxi.). 
Daniel is, in ancient times, to the great outlines of em- 
pires and Christianity what John is, in subsequent times, 
to the details of both during the Christian era.* 

The sublime imagery and lofty style of the "Revela- 
tion" invite every person of taste and refinement to a 
perusal of it. Impartial reflection on its contents will de- 
tect facts in its figures which form such striking coinci- 
dences with the events of history as will stamp the work 
a divine prediction of the general course of occurrences 
from the early ages of Christianity to the "restitution of 
all things." 

Without noting the discordant opinions of commenta- 
tors upon minor parts or unfulfilled portions of the Apoc- 
alypse, a brief review of its accomplished predictions is 
appropriate in this place. 

The despotism and downfall of the Eoman Empire and 
its paganism are distinctly foretold in the Eevelation of 
St. John. f No sooner did the heralds of Christianity pro- 
claim it to the nations than the princes of imperial Eome 
arrayed themselves in opposition to it. Bloody persecu- 
tions followed throughout three centuries. Still the divine 
truths of Christ made rapid progress among the people of 
Asia Minor, Greece, Macedonia, Illyricum, Italy, Rome, 

* Scott's Com., Introd. to Dan. Newton on Pro., Dis. 13. 
fRev. vi. 9-17. 



SOCIETY TO THE TIME OF THE CHRISTIAN ERA. 121 

Spain, and the African states.* This astonishing revolu- 
tion in the religious sentiments of a hundred and twenty 
millions of people resulted in the utter overthrow of the 
Eoman system of faith in the fore part of the fourth cen- 
tury (a.d. 325), when Constantine the Great established 
Christianity and selected Constantinople as the seat of 
imperial authority. Whatever doubts had existed as to 
the inspiration of John now vanished from the Christian 
world, and this remarkable verification of his utterances 
placed his claims as a prophet beyond dispute. 

Eev. vi. 9-17 : " And when he had opened the fifth 
seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were 
slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which 
they held: and they cried with a loud voice, saying, 
How long, Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge 
and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth ? 
And white robes were given unto every one of them ; and it 
was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little 
season, until their fellow-servants also and their brethren, 
that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled. 
And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, 
there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as 
sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; and 
the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig-tree 
casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty 
wind: and the heaven departed as a scroll when it is 
rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved 
out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the 
great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and 
the mighty men, and every bondman, and every freeman, 
hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the moun- 
tains." 

* Newton, Dis. 24. 



122 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

What language can more aptly portray the vengeance 
of Heaven inflicted by the terrible wars between Licinius 
and Oonstantine on imperial pagan Rome for its bloody 
persecutions of the early Christians ? 

The apostasy in the Christian Church from the princi- 
ples of Christ, and the rise of a new empire, embracing the 
ten nations of Europe existing at the overthrow of Rome, 
as its prop and support, are predicted in the Apocalypse. 

In order to gratify its lust for power, the Church of 
Rome destroyed the simplicity of the gospel and sub- 
stituted in its place unscriptural dogmas, pompous cere- 
monies, and immoral practices.* The Eastern Church it is 
true was less faulty in this respect than the Western, but 
both are justly chargeable with departing from the teachings 
of Christ. At Rome was set up the most despotic eccle- 
siastical establishment that has ever oppressed the world, 
and it derived all its power from the protection of Charle- 
magne, the first emperor of the West. The hierarchy of 
Rome for ages claimed the right to release subjects from 
their oaths of allegiance to their princes, and laid nations 
under interdicts which closed their churches and cut off 
the people at large from the use of the sacraments and the 
rites of burial. In later times it was as persecuting as it 
was formerly despotic. What numbers of Lollards were 
burnt in England ! What multitudes of Huguenots per- 
ished in Erance ! What scores of Reformers suffered in 
Germany, the Low Countries, and Sweden! f During the 
Duke of Alva's administration of five years and six months 
in the Netherlands he put to death eighteen thousand 

*Rev. xiii. 1 Tim. iv. 1-3. Thes. ii. 1-10. Montesquieu's Rise 
and Fall of Rom. Emp., ch. xxii. pp. 282-5. Hume's Hist, of Eng., 
Vol. I. pp. 455-6. New., Dis. 22-26. 

fSee Chapters XVI., XVII. Machiavel's History of Florence., 
Bk. I. p. 6. 



SOCIETY TO THE TIME OE THE CHEISTIAK ERA. 123 

persons for no reason but their opposition to the hierarchy 
of Kome.* 

There is the best reason to believe that if the real number 
of those who have been cruelly murdered during the 
Christian era on account of their religious opinions could 
be ascertained, it would appear that the multitude mar- 
tyred by ignorant pagans and misguided Protestants would 
dwindle into insignificance when compared with the count- 
less throng put to an ignominious death for resisting the 
tyranny of the pope or disputing the dogmas of the Eoman 
Catholic Church. 

As imperial affairs are traced in the succeeding pages 
they will afford the strongest evidence that John wrote by 
the spirit of prophecy. 

Two quotations will explain the mode of calculating pro- 
phetical time. Numbers xiv. 34: " After the number of 
the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each 
day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty 
years/' Leviticus xxv. 8: " And thou shalt number seven 
sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and 
the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee 
forty and nine years." 

1 Tim. iv. 1-3: "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, 
that in the latter times some shall depart from the 
faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of 
devils ; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience 
seared with a hot iron; forbidding to marry, and command- 
ing to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be 
received with thanksgiving of them which believe and 
know the truth." 

2 Thes. ii. 1-4: "Now we beseech you, brethren, by 
the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gather- 

* Watson's Philip II., Vol. I. p. 212. 



124 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIEE AND PROPHECY. 

ing together unto him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, 
or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter 
as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let 
no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not 
come, except there come a falling away first, and that man 
of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and 
exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is wor- 
shipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, 
shewing himself that he is God." 

Rev. xvii. 15: "The waters which thou sawest . . . are 
peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues." 

Rev. xiii. 1: "And I stood upon the sand of the 
sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven 
heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and 
upon his heads the name of blasphemy." " The seven 
heads and ten horns" are the well-known marks of the 
Roman Empire; the former alluding to the seven hills on 
which Rome was built, as well as to the seven forms of 
government which successively prevailed there, to wit, that 
of kings, consuls, dictators, decemvirs, military tribunes, 
emperors, popes ; and the latter signifying the ten king- 
doms into which the Roman Empire was divided upon its 
downfall. 

These ten kingdoms are thus enumerated by Sir Isaac 
Newton (Obs. on Dan., ch. vi. p. 47; Dis., p. 210), 
namely: (1) the kingdom of the Vandals and Alans in 
Spain and Africa; (2) the kingdom of the Suevians in 
Spain ; (3) the kingdom of the Visigoths ; (4) the king- 
dom of the Alans in Gallia ; (5) the kingdom of the Bur- 
gundians ; (6) the kingdom of the Eranks ; (7) the king- 
dom of the Britons ; (8) the kingdom of the Huns ; 
(9) the kingdom of the Lombards ; (10) the kingdom of 
Ravenna. 

V. 2 : " And the beast which I saw was like unto a 



SOCIETY TO THE TIME OF THE CHEISTIAK EEA. 125 

leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his 
mouth as the mouth of a lion : and the dragon gaye him his 
power, and his seat, and great authority." Papal Eome 
succeeded to the power and place of Imperial Eome. 

V. 3 : "And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded 
to death ; and his deadly wound was healed : and all the 
world wondered after the beast." The imperial power of 
papal Eome "was wounded" by the invasion of the Goths 
and northern nations, but Charlemagne by his power and 
victories "healed the wound," re-established imperial 
authority in the West, and gave the popedom control over 
Europe, which held its kingdoms in spiritual bondage until 
the Eeformation: so that during that period of time "they 
worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: 
and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto 
the beast ? who is able to make war with him ? And 
there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things 
and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue 
forty and two months. And he opened his mouth in 
blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his 
tabernacle, and them that dwelt in heaven. And it was 
given unto him to make war with the saints, and to over- 
come them: and power was given him over all kindreds, 
and tongues, and nations. And all that dwell upon the 
earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in 
the book of life of the Lamb slain, from the foundation of 
the world." (V. 4-8.) 

V. 11-14 : "And I beheld another beast coming up out 
of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb" (the regular 
and secular clergy of the papal hierarchy), " and he spake as 
a dragon" (that is, with the power to command). " And 
he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, 
and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to 
worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed, 



126 OUTLIKE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

And he doetli great wonders, so that he maketh fire 
come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, 
and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means 
of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight 
of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that 
they should make an image to the beast, which had the 
wound by a sword, and did live." The pope is the idol of 
the Church, represents the whole power of the hierarchy, or 
e: beast," and is the head of all authority, temporal and 
spiritual. He is nothing more than a private man till the 
corrupted clergy, represented by the cardinals, choose him 
to be pope; when he is arrayed in pontifical robes, crowned, 
and placed upon the altar, and the cardinals come and kiss 
his feet, which ceremony is called adoration : thus life is 
given to the "image of the beast," that "it should both 
speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the 
image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, 
both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive 
a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads. And that 
no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the 
name of the beast, or the number of his name." (Verses 
15-17.) 

The extinction of the Soman Empire, both in the West 
and the East, — the former by the barbarians of the North, 
the latter by the followers of Mahomet, — is positively an- 
nounced in the Eevelation.* When the Eevelation of 
John appeared, the Eomans had no more reason to 
dread the Northern barbarians than the people of the 
United States now have to fear the numerous tribes of 
Indians which are scattered on their western frontiers. In 
the course of years, however, those people began to pillage 
in small bands. Large bodies of armed men then roamed 

*Rev. viii, 



SOCIETY TO THE TIME OF THE CHKISTIAN EKA. 127 

at will through various portions of the empire. At last 
encroachments were made upon the imperial domains by 
regular settlements. Open war soon ensued. Vast armies 
came into deadly conflict. The loss of life on both sides 
was terrific. The barbarians were taught the mode of 
Eoman warfare by these contests. As luxury indisposed 
the Eoman to enter the army, its ranks were filled by these 
barbarians. Having thus obtained skill and knowledge by 
the gradual advancements of years, they were able, as will be 
seen, at the commencement of the sixth century to sack 
Kome, settle Italy, and sit themselves down in Gaul, Spain, 
and the African states. 

The case is still stronger in regard to the Mahometans.* 
When the Apocalypse was first published these people were 
not in existence. Mahomet was not born till nearly six 
centuries afterwards. The Eastern world, however, soon 
glowed with .his fanaticism. A portion of his followers 
from the distant East slowly extended their domain to- 
wards the West. Notwithstanding many events tending to 
retard their progress, their ambition to compass the Roman 
states steadily increased with revolving years. The best 
portion of Asia Minor coming into their possession, they 
pushed forward their schemes with astonishing resolution, 
and in the middle of the fifteenth century Constantinople, 
it will be seen, fell into their hands. 

Rev. viii. 7: "And the first angel sounded, and there 
followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were 
cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was 
burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up." "On the 
decease of Theodosius, a.d. 395/' says Gibbon, "the 
northern cloud, which had been so long gathering, dis- 
charged itself." " After spreading desolation through the 

*Rev. ix. 



128 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

provinces by fire and sword/' remarks Scott, "the Goths, 
under Alaric, took and plundered Rome, a.d. 410, with 
circumstances of barbarity corresponding to the emblems 
used in this verse." 

V. 8: "And the second angel sounded, and as it were a 
great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea; 
and the third part of the creatures which were and had 
life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed." 
"A great burning mountain" is emblematic of a mighty 
destructive warrior. After Alaric had finished his depre- 
dation, Attila with a vast army of Huns ravaged the em- 
pire during the space of fourteen years. He called him- 
self " the scourge of God and the terror of mankind," and 
no man ever better merited that title. 

V. 10: "And the third angel sounded, and there fell a 
great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it 
fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the foun- 
tains of waters." 

V. 11: "And the name of the star is called Wormwood: 
and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and 
many men died of the waters, because they were bitter." 
After Attila's barbarities, Genseric with three hundred 
thousand Vandals, and Moors from Africa, took Rome, and 
abandoned it to the lust and cruelty of his troops. For some 
years it gasped as it were for breath, when its existence as 
an imperial city was terminated a.d. 566, and it became a 
dukedom, tributary to the exarch of Eavenna. All which is 
beautifully set forth inverse 12: "And the fourth angel 
sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and 
the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; 
so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day 
shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise." 
And thus terminated the sovereign powers of the western 



SOCIETY TO THE TIME OF THE CHRISTIAN EEA. 129 

division of the Eoman Empire, which are portrayed by the 
figurative language of the prophet. 

Kev. ix. 1: "And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw 
a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was 
given the key of the bottomless pit. And he opened the 
bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke of a great furnace; 
and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the 
smoke of the pit." The corrupt practices of the so-called 
Christian Church, both in the West and East, in the wor- 
ship of images, saints, and angels, prayers for the dead, 
devotion paid to relics, monastic life interfering with mat- 
rimony, and the whole round of their superstitious obser- 
vances, prepared the way for Mahomet — that is, " darkened 
the air by reason of the smoke of the pit." 

V. 3-5: "And there came out of the smoke locusts 
upon the earth : and unto them was given power, as the scor- 
pions of the earth have power. And it was commanded 
that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither 
any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men 
which have not the seal of God in their foreheads. And 
to them it was given that they should not kill them, but 
that they should be tormented five months: and their tor- 
ment was as the torment of a scorpion when he striketh a 
man." When Yezed was marching with his army to in- 
vade Syria, Abubekeer charged him with this among other 
orders: "Destroy no palm-trees, nor burn any fields of 
corn; cut down no fruit-trees, nor do any mischief to cat- 
tle only such as you kill to eat." (Ockley's His. of Sar., 
94.) The Saracens were only able to torment and kill the 
subjects of the Eoman Empire, they could not destroy it 
as a political body; and this is all they ever did, and that 
only for the period of five prophetical months, each month 
embracing thirty days, and each day denoting a year: which 
is the exact time these roaming destroyers pillaged the 



130 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

world, namely, from A.d. 612 to a.d. 762, being one hun- 
dred and fifty years, when Bagdad was built and they 
became a settled nation. 

Rev. ix. 13-15: i{ And the sixth angel sounded, and I 
heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar 
which is before God, saying to the sixth angel which had 
the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are in the great 
river Euphrates. And the four angels were loosed, which 
were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a 
year, for to slay the third part of men. " When the Turks 
supplanted the Saracens, they founded four kingdoms or 
sultanies in Persia and the regions bordering on the Eu- 
phrates. They were hemmed in here till after the Crusades 
were abandoned by the "Western Christians, when they 
broke out and made terrible havoc among the inhabitants 
of that part of the world which had constituted the Roman 
Empire, and in the year a.d. 1453 took Constantinople 
and terminated the empire forever. The time of their 
conquests is fixed at 391 years and 15 days in prophetic 
language. Now their first conquest, according to their 
historian, Cantemir, took place a.d. 1281, and their last 
1672; which makes the period mentioned in verse 15. 

The revival of science and the reformation of religion 
are set forth by John. The practical result of the politico- 
ecclesiastical despotism of Rome and the new Empire of the 
West was to lower the standard of learning in Europe.* 
In the course of a few years science ceased to exist among 
the masses, and finally vanished from society altogether. 
In some of the best-populated countries of the Franks it 
was a rare thing to find a person who could read and write. 
If a man possessed this capacity, he was in many countries 
shielded from the penal effect of violated law, under the 

*Rev. xiv.-xx. Is. ii. 1-4; xi. 



SOCIETY TO THE TIME OF THE CHRISTIAN ERA. 131 

plea of what was called " the "benefit of clergy" — that is, his 
ability to act as a clerk.* Nobles and kings were in the 
same condition, as is evinced by the fact that numerous 
public documents — Magna Charta, for instance, in England 
— contain the marks and not the signatures of the parties 
to them. This deplorable state of ignorance reached its 
height about the latter part of the ninth century. From 
that period it will be discovered that a succession of causes 
began to influence society that produced a complete revo- 
lution in its intellectual state, f The result was an exact 
completion of John's prediction. 

It is not astonishing that as men became well informed 
they should become tired of the superstitious observances 
of Romanism. A total religious change was for this rea- 
son very soon the common demand of intelligent people 
throughout Europe. Rome saw and could not avert, but 
sought to postpone, her doom. It was in vain, however, 
she endeavored to delude her sons and subjects. They 
became imperative in their demands. When she refused 
to yield to them, they boldly left her bosom, erected the 
standard of truth upon a new foundation, and bid defiance 
to her rage. 

Events have been looking in this direction for the last 
three centuries. Within the present century the course 
they have taken shows that this result is inevitable. What 
does the mission spirit mean which has been roused up in 
Protestant Christendom? How stupendous have been its 
results in lands of ignorance and idolatry! Should it pro- 
duce the same effects during the next half -century which 
it has done during the last half- century, where will be a 
country in which the Gospel of Jesus will not be received? 
In that case must not "the glory of the Lord fill the 

* Black's Comts., Vol. I. p. 367. f Dan. xii. 4. 



132 OUTLIKE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

whole earth." ? When four fifths of a prophecy have been 
verified,* no one can reasonably doubt that what remains 
unfulfilled will in time become accomplished fact: and the 
final conquest of the world to Christianity is certain. 

Kev. xiv. 6-8: " And I saw another angel fly in the midst 
of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto 
them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kin- 
dred, and tongue, and people, saying with aloud voice, Fear 
God, and give glory to him for the hour of his judgment is 
come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and 
the sea, and the fountains of waters. And there followed 
another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that 
great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine 
of the wrath of her fornication." 

Eev. xv. 2, 3: " And I saw as it were a sea of glass min- 
gled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over 
the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over 
the number of his name; stand on the sea of glass, having 
the harps of G-od. And they sing the song of Moses the 
servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great 
and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just 
and true are thy ways, thou King of saints." 

Eev. xvi. 17-20: "And there came a great voice out 
of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is 
done. And there were voices, and thunders, and light- 
nings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not 
since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, 
and so great. And the great city was divided into three 
parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon" 
(so-called mystically; meaning papal Eome) "came in re- 
membrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the 

* Rev. xx. 1-4 Is. liii. Numb. xiv. 21. Dan. ii. 44, 45. Ps. 

lxxxii. 8. 



SOCIETY TO THE TIME OF THE CHRISTIAN ERA. 133 

wine of the fierceness of his wrath. And every island fled 
away, and the mountains were not found." 

Rev. xvii. 12-14: "And the ten horns which thou 
sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as 
yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast" 
(or at the hour). " These have one mind, and shall give 
their power and strength unto the beast. These shall make 
war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: 
for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings." 

Eev. xviii. 1, 2: "And another angel came down from 
heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened 
with his glory. And he cried mightily, saying, Babylon 
the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation 
of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of 
every unclean and hateful bird." 

Rev. xix. 20: "And the beast was taken, and with him 
the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with 
which he deceived them that had received the mark of the 
beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both 
were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone." 

Numbers xiv. 21: "Truly as I* live, all the earth shall 
be filled with the glory of the Lord." 

Ps. lxxxii. 8: "Arise, God, judge the earth: for thou 
shalt inherit all nations." 

Dan. ii. 34, 35: "Thou sawest till that a stone was 
cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his 
feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. 
Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the 
gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff 
of the summer threshing-floors; and the wind carried them 
away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that 
smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the 
whole earth." 

Verses 44, 45: And in the days of these kings shall the 



134 OUTLIKE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be de- 
stroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, 
but it shall break in pieces and consume all these king- 
doms, and it shall stand for ever. Forasmuch as thou 
sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without 
hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the 
clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made 
known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and 
the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure." 
Ps. ii. 1-9: " Why do the heathen rage, and the people im- 
agine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, 
and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord, and 
against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bonds asun- 
der, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in 
the heavens shall laugh : the Lord shall have them in derision. 
Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them 
in his sore displeasure. Yet have Tset my king upon my 
holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the Lord hath 
said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten 
thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for 
thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for 
thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; 
thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel/' 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE EMPIRE OF THE ROMANS TO THE TRIUMPH OF AURE- 
LIAN OVER THE GOTHS*. 

Upon" the death of Octavianus (a.d. 14), entitled by the 
senate Augustus Cassar, his son-in-law Tiberius began a 
reign which, during a period of twenty-three years, was pro- 



EOME TO THE TRIUMPH OF ATJRELIAtf. 135 

ductiye of little but evil.* Caligula, though only four years 
in power, exceeded his predecessor in vice;f nor was the 
sway of Claudius, which continued for thirteen years, of 
much more public benefit. J Nero, the next in the purple, 
was a monster of iniquity. The murder of his wife and 
mother, the sacrifice of Seneca and many illustrious 
citizens, the firing of Eome, and a train of other wrongs 
united the senate, the army, and the people, in the space 
of four years, in a combination to crush a wretch who had 
become intolerable. Galba, Otho, and Vitellius rose and 
fell successively in eighteen months; each being elevated 
by the favor or destroyed by the fury of the army. The 
empire obtained a chief worthy of its former glory in 
Vespasian, who, throughout a reign of nine years, was not 
less distinguished for wisdom as a legislator than for cour- 
age as a soldier. Titos, pursuing the course of his father, 
obtained in an eminent degree the esteem of his subjects; 
but the atrocities of Domitian, his brother, would have 
been seriously detrimental to the common good had not 
the hand of violence soon terminated his existence. § 
Nerva obtained the sceptre at an advanced age, and finding 
himself too feeble for the conduct of affairs, manifested the 
wisdom next to ruling well in selecting Trajan as his asso- 
ciate, who did not cease to be popular when he came to 
the sole possession of sovereignty. || Hadrian (a.d. 117), his 
successor, visited in person all the provinces, patronized 
the arts, reformed the laws, and established strict military 
discipline. Lucius, his only male issue, was recommended 
by the emperor to the regard of Antoninus Pius and Mar- 
cus Antoninus, whom he finally declared his successors. 



* An. Tac, 1-6. f Eu., 7. 

X An. Tac, 11-16. His. Tac. His. Aug., Vol. I. 

§ Suet., in loc. | Eu., 8, 9. His. Aug. Ney. Per. 



136 OUTLIKE EVOLUTION OF EMPIEE AND PROPHECY. 

The indulgence of Marcus to his faithless wife Faustina 
was the source of the evils which scourged the world in the 
reign of his son Commodus. Most auspicious circum- 
stances surrounded the emperor when he came to power. 
The fate of predecessors afforded ample lessons of the folly 
of vice and of the excellence of virtue. On the one hand 
was an approving senate, on the other a happy people. 
The wealth of the Antonines was at his command, and to 
obtain their glory it was only necessary to imitate their 
virtues. A false step involved the reign in disgrace. The 
disposition with which the emperor's mother had imbued 
him gave a taste for vain company. Idle persons were re- 
called from whom his father had separated him by their 
exile. The counsel of these companions prevailed against 
that of the wise ministers of the former reign. The war 
beyond the Danube was abandoned for the ease of licentious 
Eome. Commodus entered the capital amidst much fes- 
tivity. Perhaps the expression of feeling on this occasion 
might have induced him to follow the steps of his virtuous 
predecessors had it not been for the occurrence of a per- 
plexing event. His sister, the widow of Lucius Verus, 
formed a conspiracy to take his life. The agent by whom 
she was to execute her plan attacked her brother as he 
was returning to the palace through a long portico, and 
rushing on him with a drawn sword, exclaimed, "The 
senate sends you this!" The assassin was prevented from 
executing his purpose, and secured by the guards. The 
emperor from this time manifested a bitter hatred for the 
senate; slaying many of the best members of that body, as 
well as those who mourned their loss. Among the most 
remarkable of these sufferers were the Quintilian brothers, 
whose fortunes and feelings had been singularly united in 
life, and who were spared the pang of being divided in 
death. Perennis, the principal minister, suspected of aspir- 



BOME TO THE TRIUMPH OF AURELIAtf. 137 

ing to the sceptre, fell a victim to royal wrath. Oleander, 
a Phrygian by birth and formerly a slave, succeeded 
Perennis. Peculation soon filled the coffers of this favorite. 
At the suggestion of the emperor he consented to appro- 
priate much of his fortune in building public baths at 
Eome. This measure was mutually adopted by king and 
minister as a sort of propitiation for tyranny and extor- 
tion. It did not, however, effect that object. A scarcity 
of corn occurring, the populace were roused against the 
administration. A multitude rushed to the palace, de- 
manding a reparation of wrongs. The praetorian guards 
were directed to disperse it, but the sedition was so well 
organized as to render their attacks ineffective. As a last 
expedient, Oommodus ordered the bloody head of Oleander 
to be cast among the people. The execution of this horrid 
command allayed the insurrection. The emperor neverthe- 
less did not seize this favorable moment to reform his 
government or life. On the contrary, his crimes increased 
to such fearful enormity that he was shortly afterwards 
slain by the domestics of the palace. Pertinax, the prefect 
of the city, was declared emperor by the senate. During 
a reign of only eighty-six days a salutary system of reform 
was commenced in the state and army. The new regula- 
tions excited the fury of the soldiers, a band of whom re- 
paired to the palace and demanded a sight of the emperor. 
On his approach, he reminded them of his innocence and 
their oath; but, bent upon effecting their purpose, one of 
them struck the fatal blow, and Pertinax fell dead at his 
feet. 

The praetorian guards exposed the crown to sale.* 
Didius Julianus, a rich senator and a vain old man, urged 
and flattered by his domestics and family, made the highest 

* Zos., 1. His. Aug. in loc, Vol. II. p. 135. 



138 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

bid and was elected by this portion of the army. The 
servile senate confirmed the choice, and Julianus assumed 
the purple. The Roman army consisted of nine legions 
abroad: three in Syria, commanded by Pescennius Niger; 
three in Britain, under Olodius Albinus; and three inPan- 
nonia, at the head of which was Septimius Severus. The 
elevation of Julianus offended all these chiefs. Niger first 
raised the standard of rebellion, and was declared emperor 
by his troops. He might have succeeded if he had not 
wasted the summer season in idle pleasures at Antioch. 
Severus being much nearer to the capital, marched imme- 
diately there, having been declared emperor by his troops. 
The celerity of his movements is almost incredible. Within 
the space of fifteen days he was not only in Rome, but was 
invested with the purple without having drawn a sword. 
Julianus was condemned and executed. Civil war ensued, 
but was terminated by the uncommon talent of Severus in 
two engagements. One took place in the defiles of Oilicia, 
where Niger was totally defeated; the other at Lyons, 
which determined the prospects of Albinus by giving to 
Severus a complete victory. Both the disappointed gene- 
rals were slain. The first object of the emperor's desire 
was the destruction of the prsetorian guards, to serve the 
purpose of which body an army three times as large was 
created. The humiliation of the senate was next attempt- 
ed ; and in accomplishing it over forty of its members were 
slain, as well as some of the most honorable citizens of 
Rome. Thus fortified in power, the sovereign sought to 
corrupt the minds of men by promulgating sentiments on 
imperial prerogative which, while they acknowledged his 
right to do anything he pleased, enjoined on the subject 
the duties of passive obedience and non-resistance. The 
empress was not a pattern of chastity, though she was a 
patroness of the arts and sciences. She was the second 



KOME TO THE TRIUMPH OF AURELIAK. 139 

wife of Severus. The fruit of the union was Caracalla and 
Geta. These brothers from infancy manifested implacable 
hatred for each other; which, together with the unfavor- 
able reports concerning their mother, form an adequate 
explanation for the discontent of Severus. Seeking an anti- 
dote for his cares in the camp, he commenced an expedition 
against Caledonia. In the prosecution of this perilous 
plan, his queen and her two sons accompanied the emperor. 
The Roman arms were successful, but the sovereign died 
whilst engaged in the expedition. Caracalla and Geta 
were immediately declared emperors by the army. Upon 
returning home they celebrated the funeral of their parent 
with divine honors. Jealousy, however, still continued to 
rankle in their bosoms. Under pretence of settling all 
differences, Caracalla sought an interview with his brother. 
While the conference was proceeding, some of the guards 
of Caracalla rushed upon Geta with drawn swords and 
despatched him, nothing daunted at the intrepid but in- 
effectual attempt of his mother to shield his person by 
interposing her own. Thus was Caracalla left in the sole 
possession of the purple. A fratricide could but prove the 
worst of tyrants. Papinian, the praetorian prefect, a 
lawyer of great distinction, fell a victim to his revenge 
because he would not justify the murder of Geta. The 
whole empire felt his despotism; the affections of the 
people were alienated, and the general relaxation of mili- 
tary discipline destroyed the only remaining fastness of 
the emperor's strength. The language of an African 
magician, at this critical juncture, directed the anxious 
and agitated minds of the citizens to Macrinus, the prae- 
torian prsefect, as their next emperor. The magician was 
seized, and when brought before the supreme judicial 
tribunal of Rome persisted in his prediction. All the 
gloomy feelings of Caracalla were excited. Macrinus, in 



140 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

defence of his own life, was compelled to plot the ruin of 
his sovereign. He effected it through the instrumentality 
of Martialis, who, from having been refused the rank of a 
centurion, was keenly sensible to the suggestions of revenge. 
Macrinus succeeded to the purple amid the murmurs 
of both senate and army. A sister of the empress Julia 
had been driven from the court (now located in- Antioch) 
to Emesa. She had two daughters, Sosemias and Mam- 
maea, who were widows and each had one son. Bassianus, 
the son of the former, was high-priest of the Temple of 
the Sun. A large number of troops were stationed there, 
whose discontents at the rigid discipline of Macrinus were 
encouraged by the priest and his relations, until they broke 
out iuto open rebellion. The emperor mustered all his 
forces to compel submission; but risking the fate of em- 
pire in one battle, his hopes and army were defeated, and 
his rival was proclaimed sovereign under the name of 
Elagabalus. This reign was weak and wicked. The 
grandmother of the emperor persuaded him to declare 
Alexander Severus, the son of Mammsea, a Caesar. Both, in 
the space of about fifteen years, were succeeded by Maxi- 
min, a Thracian wrestler, who was denounced by the sen- 
ate and resisted by their favorites the Gordians, Maximus, 
and Balbinus. Gordian III. eventually came to power. 
Without doing anything of importance, he was supplanted 
by Philip, called the Arab.* A throne gained by perfidy 
was soon lost by the fears of its possessor. An insurrec- 
tionary movement in Moesia, which had resulted in the 
elevation of Macrinus, a subaltern, to imperial honors, in- 
duced Philip, instead of suppressing it with promptness, to 
communicate the whole matter to the senate. Decius 
treated the affair with ridicule. The task of quelling it 

*Zos., 1. Aug. His., Vol. II. p. 574, etc. 



BOME TO THE TEIUMPH OF AUEELIAN. 141 

was committed to him. In attempting to execute his 
commission, the troops dropped their favorite and pro- 
claimed their judge emperor. The dread of violence or 
the love of glory induced Decius to accept the honor, and 
he maintained his cause by the defeat and death of his 
adversary in battle. The senate confirmed the title of the 
victorious general. Scarcely, however, had Decius mounted 
the throne before he was called to the camp by a Gothic 
irruption upon Dacia. "War was prosecuted with vigor. 
The armies finally joined battle at a small town in Moesia 
called Forum Terebronii, where the Eomans were defeated 
and Decius slain. The fickle army, which abandoned the 
issue of Decius for iEmilianus, the conqueror of the Goths, 
soon tumbled him from the throne to make place for 
Valerian, a new favorite. 

The enemies of Kome at this period were the Franks, 
the Alemanni, the Goths, and the Persians. The Franks 
invaded Gaul, ravaged Spain, and passed over into Africa. 
The Alemanni laid waste Gaul and made an unsuccessful 
attempt on Eome. The Goths took a different direction; 
subduing the Cimmerian Bosphorus, they besieged and 
captured Trebizond, plundered the cities of Bithynia, 
passed the Thracian Bosphrous and Hellespont, entered 
the -ZEgean, ravaged Greece, took Athens, and then became 
divided, some going into the Eoman service and others, re- 
treating, forced their way through Asia to the Ukraine. 
The Persians having defeated and imprisoned Valerian, 
swept the eastern provinces. Amidst these" calamities 
abroad and the convulsions produced at home by the 
efforts of nineteen pretenders to power, Gallienus, asso- 
ciated by his father in the government, resigned himself to 
inglorious ease at Eome. At last the approach of Aureolus 
at the head of the Danubian forces incited him to an 
effort, in which the libels of his besieged adversary directed 



142 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

the arms of his own men against his life. Before his death 
he nominated Claudius as his successor. Confirmed in 
power, the emperor subdued the rebels, slew Aureolus, and 
in a mild manner effected a reform in the army. The 
Goths meantime repaired their losses, and with an army of 
three hundred thousand men invaded the empire. Clau- 
dius met them near Naissus, a city of Dardania, and after 
a desperate struggle they were defeated with a loss of fifty 
thousand men. Aurelian was nominated as his successor 
by the sovereign, who died shortly after this signal victory. 
Though defeated, the Goths were not destroyed. Sallying 
their scattered forces, a battle was again fought with the 
Romans, which was bloody yet not decisive. A peace 
ensued which yielded Dacia to the barbarians, and secured 
a free market to the Romans. Zenobia, the queen of Pal- 
myra, who had raised the arm of rebellion against imperial 
power, together with Firmius, who had pursued the same 
course in Egypt, were both subdued by Aurelian. The 
dreadful catalogue of ills, war, famine, and pestilence 
which had prevailed daring the gloomy period of twenty- 
five years, sweeping in its course at least the fourth part 
of the human family, was now distinguished by the death 
of the emperor at the hands of the army. 

In reviewing this terrible period, the mind is irresistibly 
impelled to contemplate the remarkable words of the Apoc- 
alypse, written two centuries before the occurrence of the 
events which distinguished it.* 

Rev. vi. 8. " And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and 
his name that sat on him was Death, and hell followed 
with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth 
part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and 
with death, and with the beasts of the earth." 

* Gibbons' Decline and Fall, Vol. II. p. 159. Rev. vi. 8. 



HOME TO ITS EXTINGUISHMENT IN THE WEST. 143 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE EMPIRE OF THE KOMANS TO ITS EXTINGUISHMENT 

IN THE WEST. 

The turpitude of Aurelian's murder awed the legions to 
such an extent that they pressed the senate to name a suc- 
cessor. Tacitus, a veteran of nearly fourscore, descended 
from the historian, was selected. The cares of government 
proving too much for his constitution, he soon died. Flo- 
rianus, his brother, seized the sceptre; but being slain by 
the soldiery in less than three months, Probus ascended 
the throne. Energy marked the course of this emperor. 
Internal commotions were quelled, Germanic inroads were 
stayed and prevented by the establishment of a line of 
forts from the Rhine to the Danube, and salutary reforms 
were adopted both in the state and army. In fact, Probus 
was ahead of the times and hence fell a victim to the rage 
of the legions: so certain an enemy has a standing army 
always proved to human progress. As quick to relent as 
to err, the blood-stained soldiery clad in the purple Carus, 
the friend and prsefect of the murdered monarch. A Sar- 
matian war was successfully concluded, and a Persian one 
projected, in which the monarch perished. The army 
forthwith abandoned the expedition in the East on the 
death of Carus, to settle the strife about his successor. 

Diocletian took the prize, and succeeded in securing it 
by a victory over Carinus, the son of the deceased monarch.* 
Still the emperor thought he possessed more than his own 

*Zos., Bk. II. Oro., Bk. VI. ch. xxx.-xxxviii. Aug. His. in 
loc, Vol. II. 



144 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

hands could hold. Accordingly, a distribution of the em- 
pire took place. Constantius received Spain and Britain; 
the' Illyrian provinces were given to Galerius; Italy and 
Africa were committed to Maximian; and Thrace, Egypt, 
and Asia were taken by Diocletian. The city of Kome ceased 
to be the capital of the empire. Desperate as was the 
struggle for freedom, the imperial arms triumphed in Gaul 
and Britain, in Egypt and the African states. The con- 
test with Persia was more severe; yet the defeated and 
disgraced Galerius at last humbled that proud power and 
secured the Araxes as the eastern boundary of the empire. 
Politically dead as Kome was, she witnessed the triumph 
of all and the resignation of two of the emperors. The 
retirement of Diocletian and Maximian devolved the sove- 
reignty on Constantius and Galerius. But for dissensions 
fomented at Rome by Maxentius, the son of the retired 
emperor Maximian, and the succession of Constantine on 
the death of his father Constantius, the sceptre would have 
come to the sole possession of Galerius. As events hap- 
pened, the empire, instead of being controlled by one per- 
son, fell under the direction of six. In the west reigned 
Maximian, Maxentius, and Constantine; in the east, Licin- 
ius, Maximin, and Galerius. Death removing Maximian 
and Galerius, only one obstacle remained to impede the 
progress of Constantine in the west. A hard-fought bat- 
tle at Turin, the capture of Verona, and the overthrow 
and death of his adversary quickly established him at 
Rome. Licinius was the brother-in-law and ally of the 
western conqueror, Maximin his enemy and the friend of 
the defeated Maxentius. The destruction of the latter by 
the former made the two brothers masters of the empire. 
Their friendship, however, was but of short duration. 
Secret suspicions created bitter jealousies, and in less than 
a year open war ensued. The two battles of Cibilis and 



ROME TO ITS EXTINGUISHMENT IN THE WEST. 145 

Mardia settled little more than the superior military skill 
of Oonstantine. A peace was proclaimed, which proved to 
be only the calm that precedes the storm. The war was 
renewed, and three of the most memorable battles were 
fought that ever stained the annals of any times. The first 
was that of Hadrianople, in which the loss of Licinius 
was near thirty-four thousand; the second was at the siege 
of Byzantium, in which the fleet of Licinius was totally 
routed by Crispus, the talented son of Constantine, and 
thirty vessels were destroyed and five thousand men were 
slain; the last the battle of Chrysopolis, in which Licinius 
lost twenty-five thousand men. Thus ended the awful con- 
test by which Constantine was made the sole sovereign of 
the entire Roman Empire, which as a pagan power de- 
parted "as a scroll when it is rolled together."* The 
master of the world, nevertheless, could not secure domes- 
tic comfort, as he did the sceptre. There was a root of 
bitterness in his house which produced pestiferous fruits. 
Crispus was the son of a former wife and stood in the way 
of the three sons of the present spouse. A quarrel fol- 
lowed which destroyed for life the comfort of the emperor, 
and successively the lives of son and stepmother: and thus 
did exalted place in this instance, as it ever does, prove 
itself the twin-sister of miseries which never haunt the 
dwellings of virtuous obscurity. 

Upon the death of Constantine, the bishop of Nicomedia 
produced a scroll which he alleged was executed by the 
emperor shortly before his death, in which he strongly as- 
serted he had been poisoned by his brothers. This was a 
sufficient pretext for an indiscriminate slaughter of the 
Flavian family. None of the race of Constantine escaped 
except Gallus and Julian, two sons of his brother Constan- 

* See Chapter V. Rev. vi. 9-17. 



146 OUTLIKE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

tius. The empire was divided between the sons of the 
deceased emperor: Constantine taking Constantinople, 
Constantius Thrace and the East, and Constans Italy, 
France or Gaul, and western Illyricum. The East was im- 
mediately scourged with a Persian war, the West with a 
wrangle between the two brothers as to their shares of their 
father's dominions. The adherents of Constans slew Con- 
stantine; the friends of Magnentius, now proclaimed em- 
peror, in turn killed Constans. Constantius made prepa- 
rations to destroy his adversary, and, meeting him at Mursa, 
a battle was fought in which the imperial arms triumphed, 
after the loss on both sides of one hundred thousand men. 
By this bloody process did Constantius obtain an empire 
which he had not the ability by himself to govern. Gal- 
lus, his cousin, was accordingly created a Caesar, and com- 
menced at Antioch an administration which was marked 
with cruelties that finally led to his recall and execution. 
The Gallic provinces were then committed to Julian.* 
Believed as the emperor thus was from a portion of the 
cares of government, he soon found himself involved in 
troubles of no ordinary character from the East. The 
Persian king had merely stayed the war, at the commence- 
ment of this reign, in consequence of a foreign inroad on 
his dominions. His own concerns being now settled, he 
threatened Constantius with a renewal of hostilities unless 
he yielded both Armenia and Mesopotamia. On the re- 
fusal of these terms, war was commenced in its most fearful 
form. Fire, outrage, slaughter marked the steps of the 
Persians, and an unusual success attended their arms from 
the sack of Amida to the siege of Bezabde. Nor did the pres- 
ence of Constantius at the head of the army produce any 
change for the better. All was disaster and death. Not 



*Zos., Bk. III. Am. Mar., Bk. XIV. Aug. His., Vol. III. 



KOME TO ITS EXTINGUISHMENT IN THE WEST. 147 

less than sixty thousand Eomans were consigned to hopeless 
captivity, to say nothing of those that fell in actual service. 
These accumulated misfortunes might have induced the 
empire to conclude dishonorable terms of peace, had it 
not been cheered by the news of Julian's successes in the 
"West. Young and unused to arms as was the Caesar when 
placed in command, he notwithstanding displayed a cool- 
ness and courage which at once excited the confidence of 
his friends and the dread of his enemies. With a compara- 
tively small force, such were his skill and perseverance 
that he effectually repelled all the Northern hordes, liber- 
ated twenty thousand captives, and thrice carried the Eoman 
eagle in triumph beyond the Ehine. Nor were the victo- 
ries of Julian all of which he could boast. Gaul underwent 
a reformation quite as important to her citizens as the con- 
quest of their foes. The judiciary was purged, exaction 
was banished, personal liberty was protected, the laws ren- 
dered supreme. Popular as the career of the young hero 
rendered him with the masses, it kindled a flame of jealousy 
in the bosom of the emperor which no sense of policy could 
repress. Accordingly he determined to destroy the Cassar 
by withdrawing his legions, under the pretext of employing 
them to save the fortunes of the empire in the East. Stung 
to the quick at parting with their general, the veteran hosts 
reared the standard of rebellion and proclaimed him em- 
peror. After some ineffectual negotiation both parties 
prepared to settle the controversy by arms. The death of 
Constantius prevented the effusion of blood, and Julian 
was acknowledged emperor. 

The preparations Julian had made to maintain his scep- 
tre enabled him readily to assert its authority in the East. 
Persia was invaded, and a bitter retaliation meted to her 
for outrages on the Eoman provinces. The arts of a 
traitor nevertheless defeated the wise plans of the emperor 



148 OUTLINE EVOLUTION" OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

and prematurely produced his disaster and death. Jovian, 
the first of the domestics, was invested with the purple ; 
a truce for thirty years concluded, and the expedition 
abandoned. The death of the emperor was as sudden as 
his elevation. Sallust, the venerable prsefect, and his son 
were successively offered the sceptre ; the father declined 
on account of age, the son because of youth. Valentinian 
was finally selected, and associated his brother Valens in 
the administration:* the first reserving the West as his 
dominion, the latter taking as his the East. Valentinian was 
passionate yet liberal. Valens was cowardly and proscrip- 
tive. Both did much for the cause of education, protected 
the empire from Persian inroads, and checked the lawless 
desires of Alemanni and Burgundian, of Saxon and Goth. 
After the death of Valentinian and the accession of his 
sons Gratian and Valentinian II., it was impossible to 
restrain the Goths, driven as they were to madness by the 
exactions of the Eoman governors. A fearful struggle 
commenced, in which the armies were brought to battle 
near Hadrianople, where the emperor Valens was defeated 
and Slain. Theodosius, who was raised to the throne of 
the East, pursued a different conrse with the barbarians. 
Fomenting their domestic feuds, he attached some of their 
leaders to his interests, weakened their adversaries, and 
eventually prepared all for the influence of royal gold and 
goodness. It was not, however, for lack of courage that 
the emperor resorted to management. When the brother 
of his benefactor, Gratian, was threatened with ruin 
through a rebellion headed by Maximus, Theodosius col- 
lected a powerful army, gained a signal victory at iEmona, 
settled his friend in power, and only bore away as his 

*Zos., Bk. IV. Am. Mar., Bks. XXX., XXXI. Dan. ii. 41-43. 
Ante, Chapter V. 



ROME TO ITS EXTINGUISHMENT IN THE WEST. 149 

portion of the spoils the fair sister of Valentinian, a will- 
ingly won wife. After the assassination of Valentinian 
the emperor of the East gained the possessions of his 
wife's father by a desperate battle on the plains of 
Aquileia. 

The sons of Theodosius, on the death of their father, 
shared his empire:* Arcadius reigning in the East, 
Honorius in the West. Force and fraud had long re- 
strained the Northern nations. The time had now ar- 
rived when they were to sweep the Western Empire from 
existence. But one man remained who could stay their 
progress, and that was the blood-stained commander 
Stilicho, whose life was soon destroyed, as his influence 
with the emperor was totally undermined. The fall and 
death of this personage was the signal for action with the 
barbarians. Alaric, their leader, marshalled his myriad 
multitudes, which poured down like an avalanche on Eome. 
Reduced to the lowest condition, starved and sick, the 
citizens procured the withdrawal of their enemies by the 
payment of five thousand pieces of gold, thirty thousand 
pounds of silver, four thousand robes of silk, three thousand 
pieces of fine scarlet cloth, and three thousandweight of 
pepper. Under the pretence of procuring a permanent 
peace, the artful Alaric hovered about in the plains of 
Tuscany. Satisfied with no proposition, as soon as the 
season allowed he again invested Rome. Without hope 
from Honorius, and expecting relief from a new sovereign, 
the people elevated Attalus. The siege was raised ; it was, 
however, but for a moment. Attalus was quickly de- 
spoiled of the purple ; Honorius, re-enforced and safe at 
Ravenna, bid defiance to his enemies. Alaric again fell 

*Zos., Bks. V., VI. Pro. Van. War, Bk. I. Aug. Hist, in loc. 
Rev. viii. 11, IS. 



150 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

on Rome, entered the Salarian gate at the dead of night 
by the treason of slaves, and for six days his forces pillaged 
at will, sparing nothing but the temples. The death of 
the Gothic chief and the accession of his kinsman Adolphus 
restored peace ; yet the Empire in the West had received 
a mortal blow. Like a girdled tree it had still life in the 
roots, which might germinate; but the boughs and foliage 
could bloom no more forever. 

On the death of Honorius his widow Placida became re- 
gent for his son Valentinian III., who was too young to 
hold the sceptre. A bloody struggle followed between her 
generals, iEtius and Boniface, which resulted in the dis- 
memberment of Africa and the settlement of the Vandals 
in that country. Pretending to believe there existed an 
agreement between the Eastern and Western Empires to 
regain Africa, Genseric, the leader of the Vandals, incited 
Attila, king of the Huns, to an attack on both empires.* 
It was a desolating and barbarous war, which was terminated 
by the dreadful battle of Chalons (a.d. 451). Shortly 
after iEtius had conquered the barbarians, Valentinian, in 
a passion, slew him. In turn the emperor was despatched 
by the domestics of the general. Maximus was declared 
emperor. This brutal cruelty to the widow of the mur- 
dered monarch forced her in despair to call on the Vandals 
for aid. Landing quickly on the shores of Italy, they 
subjected Rome to a sack which far exceeded in enormity 
that of the Goths. Rid of their oppressors, the Romans 
raised Avitus to the purple. This transient and feeble 
reign gave place to that of the manly Majorian, whose 
vigorous efforts at general reformation, resistance of the 
barbarians, and the recaption of Africa were not appre- 
ciated by his effeminate countrymen. A treaty with the 

*Jornandes' Goth. Hist., ch. xxxiv.-l. 



THE ROMAN EMPIRE TO ITS EXTINCTION IN THE EAST. 151 

East, to restrain the Vandals, placed Anthemius on the 
throne, from which Libius Severus was hurled. The 
failure of this scheme forced him to yield the sceptre to 
Olybius, the favorite of the Gothic Count Kicimer, who 
was now at the head of the barbarian band that again 
humbled the pride of Eome. Death removing both, Julius 
Nepos held the sceptre, under the auspices of the East, 
till it was snatched from him by the hovering hordes of 
barbarians under the promptings of the traitor Orestes. 
Eomulus Angustulus was the pageant set up by these 
freebooters. Odoacer promised more plunder, received the 
crown, was acknowledged king of Italy by the East, and 
reigned in quiet up the time (a.d. 493) that Theodoric 
established the kingdom of the Ostrogoths.* 

The ten races of people or nations existing in Europe at 
the overthrow of the Soman power in the West were the 
same as ultimately composed the Empire of the Franks. f 
Before entering on this history, the affairs of the East 
claim attention. 



CHAPTEK VIII. 

THE EMPIEE OF THE ROMANS TO ITS EXTINCTION IN 
THE EAST BY THE OTTOMANS. 

Arcadius died at an early age. J The regency was 
devolved on his sister Pulcheria during the minority 
of her brother Theodosius. On the death of the prince, 

*Pro. Goth. War, Bk. I. ch. i., ii. Rev. viii. 

fMalte-Brun., Bk. XCVI. 

$Aug. His. in loc, Vol. IV. New. Dis., 18. 



152 OUTLIKE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

the sister took the sceptre. Marcian, a senator of sixty 
years of age, became the husband of the queen, and 
administered the government with ability. A revolution 
would have determined the succession on the death of the 
emperor, had not the influence of one great family been 
sufficient to secure it for their chief steward. Thus was 
Leo raised to the throne. Many years were spent in fruit- 
less efforts to regain the West. Dying without issue and 
his infant grandson of the same name not long surviving, 
Basiliscus, the brother-in-law of Leo, obtained the throne. 
A change in the sentiments of court-circles quickly ex- 
pelled the monarch and put in his place Zeno, the son-in- 
law of Leo. Barbarian inroads and civil feuds distracted 
the reign. The widow of Zeno married Anastasius, on 
whose death Justin, the commander of the guards, at an 
advanced age obtained the purple. Grossly ignorant of 
even the rudiments of learning, the sovereign managed to 
conduct public affairs through the talents of his nephew 
Justinian, who was invested with royalty four months be- 
fore his uncle's death. The hopes which the Eastern court 
had long entertained in regard to the Western possessions 
were fully realized in this reign.* Gelimer, the Vandal 
king, was led a captive to Constantinople by Belisarius, 
and Africa completely reduced. The Goths shared a sim- 
ilar fate in Italy. The heir to the throne of Theodoric 
was his infant grandson. Offended at the refined educa- 
tion which his mother was giving him, the Goths charged 
her with the foulest conspiracies and demanded the person 
of their young king. In her distress she sought the pro- 
tection of Justinian. Though her life was destroyed, the 
forces of the emperor under Belisarius invaded Italy, cap- 
tured Naples, and taking possession of Eome, held it with 

*Pro. Wars. 



THE ROMAH EMPIRE TO ITS EXTINCTION" IN THE EAST. 153 

an army of five thousand in despite of one hundred and fifty 
thousand Gothic assailants. Notwithstanding the jealous- 
ies created by Parses, a new favorite of the emperor, and 
the irruption of the Lombards, the Eomans reduced the 
kingdom of the Goths to the walls of Ravenna, which fell 
before the arms of Belisarius. Merit is not the sole motive 
that prompts the favors of rulers. There is often an under- 
current set in motion by sinister agents that regulates 
the affairs of states. Belisarius was the conqueror of 
Italy, but he was recalled without fault and Narses ad- 
vanced to his honors. The Goths were not insensible of 
the change, and, rallying under Totila, recovered many of 
their lost holds and pitched their camp near Eome. All 
eyes were turned to Belisarius, who was reinvested with the 
command, forced his way into Rome, and maintained the 
imperial supremacy by three hard-fought battles. Again 
the hoary veteran was robbed of the reward of his labors, 
and spent the remainder of his days in obscurity, while 
Narses enjoyed the royal favor in the government of Italy. 
Justinian survived Belisarius only eight months. Justin 
II., a nephew of Justinian, was elected emperor by the 
senate.* Unfit from the loss of health for the discharge of 
public duties, the emperor chose as his associate Tiberius, 
the chief of the guards. Throughout his reign Tiberius 
strove to imitate the virtues of the Antonines. On his 
deathbed the emperor bestowed his purple and his 
daughter on Maurice, who reigned twenty years a pattern 
of reason and virtue. The conflict between the power of 
the empire and the progress of the Lombards in Italy, as 
well as the old factions of the Greens and Blues, embar- 
rassed the court. Phocas, elevated by the soldiery, 
espoused the cause of the Greens, created sedition over the 

* Aug. His. in loc, Vol. IV. 



154 OUTLINE EVOLUTION" OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

city, and procured the death, of Maurice and all his family. 
Power won by such heartless cruelty could not long be re- 
tained. Heraclius, son of the African exarch, soon 
landed, expelled the tyrant, and received the sceptre. 
War raged in the East at the accession of the emperor, and 
for twelve years his efforts to suppress it were fruitless. 
From this cause, as well as from the stealthy attack of the 
Scythians on the capital, the emperor was reduced to de- 
spair, and tried the clemency of Ohosroes, king of Persia. 
"When the emperor abjures his crucified god and em- 
braces the worship of the sun, I will give him peace," 
was the infidel's profane reply. Six' years war moderated 
this wicked demand to a tribute from the empire annually 
of a thousand talents of gold, as many talents of silver, 
a thousand silk robes, a thousand horses, and a thousand 
virgins. Heraclius, gathering energy from despair, before 
the first instalment was due pitched his camp near the 
spot where Alexander vanquished Darius. The Persian 
army was defeated, and in three years the Eomans tri- 
umphed beyond the Tigris. Determined to regain his 
power, the Persian levied a large army, but was utterly 
frustrated by the arts and arms of the emperor. Again 
did Chosroes rally. A bloody battle at Nineveh sealed his 
doom, and settled the war for the remainder of the reign. 
By the will of Heraclius his sons were declared heirs of the 
empire. Constantine, the eldest, was believed to have 
been murdered by his stepmother.* She and her son were 
debarred from power, and Oonstans II. and Theodosius, 
the children of the despatched monarch, raised to the 
throne. The former slew his brother and was himself 
killed by his domestics; and his eldest son, Constantine 
IV., received the purple. Justinian II. was the son and suc- 

* Aug. His. in loc, Vol. IV. 



THE ROMAN EMPIRE TO ITS EXTINCTION IN THE EAST. 155 

cessor of the last monarch. Cold-blooded villainy expelled 
him from a throne which though he regained by an alli- 
ance with the Tartars, he was eventually compelled to 
yield to his rival, Philippicus. Two years brought Anas- 
taaius II. to the sceptre : a less time Theodosius III., and 
not much longer Leo III. Theological disputes in regard 
to the use of images in divine worship agitated this and 
the reign of Oonstantine V. Leo IV. was the son of the 
last emperor. He did little else than fix the succession of 
his son Oonstantine. Severity to the Armenian guards 
and domestic strifes destroyed the emperor and transferred 
his crown to his mother Irene. Nicephorus, the royal 
treasurer, subverted the queen, seized her throne, and 
being shortly afterwards slain in a Bulgarian war, his son 
Saturacius obtained a palace, from which he was quickly 
expelled by the arts of his kinsman Michael. Leo V. sup- 
planted the emperor, and was overthrown himself by 
Michael the Stammerer, who in a few years left his throne 
to Theophilus; after whom was Michael, the last of the 
Isaurian dynasty. Vice so belittles its subject that he be- 
comes an easy prey to his assailant. Michael was de- 
bauched and despotic, and Basil the Macedonian was 
not only protected in destroying him, but was rewarded 
with a crown. The reign of Basil was glorious; he re- 
pelled the Saracens, restored the finances, and reformed the 
laws. After a reign of near twenty years he was succeeded 
by his sons Leo and Alexander. Oonstantine, the son of 
the former, and his mother Zoe eventually came to the 
throne. A regency, with its crimes and cruelties, distracted 
the nation for years. Eomanus got the sceptre by causing 
his father Oonstantine to be poisoned. A swift retribution 
followed. His guilty widow Theophano married Nicepho- 
rus Phocas, whom she sacrificed to please her gallant John 
Zimisces. Secure in power, John banished the murderess of 



156 OUTLIKE EVOLUTION OF EMPIEE AND PROPHECY. 

three kings. Still the emperor was little better than his 
abandoned wife, and, though brave and successful against 
the Saracens, he was murdered for his oppressions by the 
domestics of the palace. The children of Romanus, Basil 
and Constantine, enjoyed a transient power. Zoe, the 
daughter of the latter, was married, by order of council, 
to Romanus Argyrus, now elevated to the throne. The 
queen poisoned her husband and put in his place Michael 
the chamberlain. 

An unchaste woman is as fickle as she is treacherous. 
Michael, the nephew, soon enjoyed the smile of Zoe and 
the throne of his uncle, but lost both by his ingratitude 
and cruelty. The death of Zoe and her husband Constan- 
tine X. cast the sceptre on her sister Theodora, who before 
her death nominated Michael VI., who closed the Basili- 
an dynasty. Isaac Comnenus was chosen emperor ; bad 
health compelling his abdication, Constantine Ducas as- 
sumed power for the purpose of securing it to his sons. 
The marriage of the widow, however, with Romanus Dio- 
genes expelled the sons of the deceased king and raised 
the new husband to the throne. The emperor was over- 
powered by the Turks and his sceptre finally fell into the 
hands of Nicephorus, who was at last forced to yield to the 
popularity of his general Alexius, the son of John Com- 
nenus. During a long reign Alexius repelled the Nor- 
mans on the West, the Turks on the East, and maintain- 
ing his authority at home, left his sceptre to his son John, 
whose life was no less heroically spent than that of his 
father. Manuel, the brother of the last emperor, heired 
the throne and did not disgrace the dynasty. On the death 
of Manuel, his minor son Alexins and his mother were left 
in power. Andronicus, a son of Isaac Comnenus, taking 
advantage of the times, seized the crown and slew Alexius 
and his mother. Determined to sate his vengeance on his 



THE KOMAN EMPIRE TO ITS EXTINCTION IN THE EAST. 157 

adversaries, he condemned to death Isaac Angelus, a de- 
scendant of Alexius I. The emperor's cruelties reacted 
on himself. Isaac fled to the temple from the executioner ; 
was proclaimed emperor; and committed Andronicus to 
torture and death. Isaac's power vanished before the am- 
bition of his brother Alexius, who was rapidly followed by 
Alexius, son of Isaac II. ; whose title was overruled by a 
popular election that elevated Alexius Ducas. 

Upon the promise of submitting the Eastern to the 
Eomish Church and the payment of two hundred thousand 
marks of silver, Alexius IV. procured the aid of the leaders 
of the fourth crusade.* A sharp contest ensued, in which 
Ducas being overpowered, fled, and Isaac and his son Alex- 
ius were proclaimed emperors. Fear induced the empe- 
rors to desire the stay of the Latins for one year. Before 
that time arrived, Isaac became jealous of his son and the 
people of the strangers. Alexius was deserted by citizens 
and allies, and both he and his father were put to death. 
Ducas was again invested with the purple. The Latins de- 
manded fifty thousand pounds of gold and submission to 
£he Roman see; which being refused, they commenced 
operations and reduced the city. The victors settled among 
themselves the division of the spoils. Over one fourth of 
the Eastern Empire was retained for the emperor, the 
balance divided among the French and Venetians. Bald- 
win Count of Flanders was finally elected emperor, Du- 
cas slain, and Alexius III. exiled. The emperor shortly 
afterwards was overpowered in a Bulgarian war, and his 
brother Henry became monarch. On his death the title 
fell to Peter of Courtenay, his brother-in-law. Attempt- 
ing to recover Durazzo, he was taken prisoner and died. 



* See Chapter XI., after. Aug. His., Vol. VI. pp. 271, 689; Vol. 
VII. pp. 430, 526. Malte-Brun's Geo., Vol. IV. Bk. XCVI. pp. 44r-56. 



158 OUTLIKE EVOLUTION OF EMPIKE AND PROPHECY. 

Kobert, the son of Peter, ascended the throne, and by his 
mismanagement lost the Asiatic provinces, and by his vices 
lost his life. John of Brienne, though on the throne 
merely until Baldwin, the son of Peter, should come to 
age, proved himself a hero. Michael Palseologus, king of 
Epirus, however, succeeded in expelling Baldwin and the 
Latin succession of emperors, as well as in establishing his 
own authority. Andronicus, his son, followed him on the 
throne ; but was supplanted by his grandson Andronicus, 
whose vices carried him off when his son John was only 
nine years old. The regency was imposed on John Oan- 
tacazune, who strengthened his power by the aid of the 
Turks, but in the end was compelled to yield to his ward. 
A bitter and protracted altercation occurred between the 
emperor and his son Andronicus, in which they were suc- 
cessively raised to the sceptre and finally settled the mat- 
ter by John and his son Manuel taking the capital and 
Andronicus all the rest of the empire. Manuel succeeded 
during his reign in keeping the Ottomans at bay by a 
boast of his ability to procure help from the West. Con- 
stantine Palseologus, his brother, was not so fortunate. 
The first act of rebellion on the part of the Ottomans was 
in refusing the tribute ; the next in the erection of a fort- 
ress on the European side of the Bosphorus, about five 
miles from the capital. The emperor remonstrated, the 
sultan threatened ; negotiations were unavailing ; Constan- 
tinople was invested by sea and by land, and in fifty-three 
days fell into the hands of the Ottomans. 



THE EMPIRE TO ITS OVERTHROW BY THE OTTOMANS. 159 



CHAPTER IX 

THE CONDITION OF THE EMPIRE OF THE ROMANS FROM THE 
AGE OF AUGUSTUS C2ESAR TO ITS OVERTHROW BY THE 
OTTOMANS. 

The Empire of the Romans at its most prosperous 
period embraced Spain, Gaul, Britain, Italy, Rhsetia, 
Noricum, Pannonia, Dalmatia, Mcesia, Dacia, Thrace, 
Macedonia, Greece, Asia Minor, Syria, Phoenicia, Palestine, 
Egypt, Africa, and the islands of the Mediterranean.* In 
breadth from the wall of Antoninus and the northern limits 
of Dacia to Mount Atlas and the tropic of Cancer it was 
nearly two thousand miles, and in length from the Atlantic 
to the Euphrates upwards of three thousand miles, and 
contained a population of one hundred and twenty millions. 
This widely extended dominion was preserved in a state of 
subordination by an army consisting of thirty legions, dis- 
tributed throughout the provinces : three in Britain, on 
the Danube and Rhine sixteen, upon the Euphrates eight, 
and one each to Egypt, Africa, and Spain, f A legion 
consisted of a body of infantry, cavalry, light-armed troops 
called auxiliaries, besides the various attendants on baggage. 
The infantry, which constituted the strength of the legion, 
was divided into ten cohorts and fifty-five companies. 
Each of the former was commanded by a tribune, and each 
of the latter by a centurion. The first cohort, upon which 
devolved the honor of carrying the eagle, contained eleven 
hundred and five soldiers of the most approved character. 



* Butler's Geo. Clas. Pol., Bk. VI. ex. 

f Vegetius, B. II. ch. iv. Jos. Bel., B. III. ch. v. 



160 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

Each of the other cohorts numbered five hundred and fif ty- 
fiye men. The arms of the soldiers were a helmet with a 
lofty crest, a breastplate or coat of mail, greaves for their 
legs, and on their left arm a buckler four feet in length and 
two and a half in breadth, formed of light wood covered 
with bull's hide and strengthened with plates of brass. 
The most effective weapon was a heavy spear, about six 
feet long, which terminated in a triangular point of steel 
eighteen inches in length. A short two-edged sword was 
used in close contest. The legion, when drawn up in bat- 
tle array, stood eight deep, leaving a distance of three feet 
between the ranks, so that ample room was afforded for 
every description of military movements. A body of cav- 
alry consisting of ten troops was assigned to each legion. 
The first, numbering one hundred and thirty-two men, was 
attached to the first cohort, and the others, consisting each 
of sixty-six men, were appointed respectively to the remain- 
ing nine cohorts. A helmet, an oblong shield, light 
boots, and a coat of mail arrayed the person of each horse- 
man, and his action was made desperately effective upon the 
enemy either by a javelin or a broadsword. The auxiliar- 
ies and attendants increased the total number of the im- 
perial legion to twelve thousand. Ten engines of the larger 
and fifty-five of the smaller size were assigned to each 
legion for the purpose of assaults on walls, towers, and 
forts. 

The construction of a Eoman camp is worthy of consid- 
eration. The spot where it was to be cast being cleared by 
the pioneers, the tents were pitched on either sides of broad 
streets, towering above which, in the centre, were erected 
the quarters of the general. The whole of the square occu- 
pied seven hundred yards, and was surrounded by a ram- 
part twelve feet high, formed of wood and earth, encircled 
by a ditch as many feet broad. Extensive as these prepara- 



THE EMPIRE TO ITS OVERTHROW BY THE OTTOMANS. 161 

tions were, no sooner was the camp ordered to be left than 
all the tents were struck with incredible celerity. The 
empire did not consider the strength of its military estab- 
lishment to consist in its numbers. The strictest discipline 
was constantly enforced. Every mode of trial was practised 
which could fit the soldier for the toils of a campaign or 
the dangers of a battle. This course was pursued in peace 
and in war. A field of battle differed from a field of exer- 
cise only by the effusion of blood. The naval preparations 
were not very extensive, being suggested and limited almost 
entirely by the desire to suppress piratical outrage and to 
preserve the commerce of the Mediterranean. Competent 
fleets were placed at Ravenna on the Adriatic, at Misenum 
in the Bay of Naples, at Fregus on the coast of Provence, 
on the Euxine, upon the sea between Gaul and Britain, 
and upon the Ehine and Danube. 

The scheme of government established by Augustus Cae- 
sar was an absolute monarchy, disguised by the forms of a 
commonwealth.* By craft and cunning the subtle tyrant 
united in his person the consular and tribunitian powers, 
and modelled the senate according to his own will. Secur- 
ing an unexampled popularity with the army, the emperor 
governed the Roman world by himself and his submissive 
lieutenants. The revenues were placed upon a new basis. In 
addition to the income from the provinces, which was not 
far short of twenty millions of pounds sterling, three new 
and distinct modes of taxation were created; one falling on 
commerce, another on sales in markets or by auction, and 
the last on legacies and inheritances. 

The age of the Antonines abounded sufficiently in mild 
laws and useful arts to have reconciled, if not to have at- 
tached, the people to the sway of the emperors. The invid- 

* Aug. His. in loc. Tac. Arn. 13. 31, 



162 OUTLIKE EVOLUTION OF EMPIKE AND PKOPHECY. 

ious distinction which formerly existed between the citi- 
zens of Eome and Italy was now succeeded by the liberal 
policy of admitting the inhabitants of the latter to the free- 
dom of the imperial city. The conquests of the empire 
were also elevated by royal grants of distinguished privi- 
leges.* The benignity of imperial power was extended to 
that large and depressed portion of society which by the 
accidents of battle or birth had fallen into a state of slav- 
ery. The oppressions to which this unfortunate class of 
beings had been long subject were mitigated in the reigns 
of Hadrian and the Antonines by taking the power of life 
and death from the hands of the master and vesting it in 
the magistrates, by abolishing subterraneous prisons, and 
by directing, upon a complaint of intolerable treatment, 
the slave to be delivered from bonds or to be transferred to 
a less cruel master. A process of manumission was also 
enacted. The slave, however, was not permitted to acquire 
any other than the rights of a denizen by his liberation; 
being cautiously excluded from all civil or military honors. 
The marks of a servile origin were not obliterated until the 
third or fourth generation. 

The state of the arts is presented by the existence at 
Eome of the Coliseum, the baths of Titus, the Olaudian 
portico, the temples dedicated to the goddess of peace and 
the genius of the capital, to say nothing of the curious 
library attached to the former, and the forum of Trajan, 
the column of which has withstood the ravages of time. 
The same spirit for elegant improvement pervaded the 
provinces, and, supplied with ample incentive by royal 
munificence, amphitheatres, temples, porticos, triumphal 
arches, baths, and aqueducts were constructed in every part 
of the empire. Besides the eleven hundred and ninety- 

* Tac. An., 11, 23, 24. Aug. His. in loc. 



THE EMPIRE TO ITS OVERTHROW BY THE OTTOMANS. 163 

seven cities of Italy, the attention is attracted by the 
splendor of Verona, Padua, Milan, Eavenna, as well as by 
the increasing greatness of York, Bath, London, in Brit- 
ain, and the twelve hundred Gallic cities of the southern 
provinces alone, all of which imitated the elegance of the 
common capital. Nor were the three hundred and sixty 
cities of Spain, the three hundred of Africa, and the five 
hundred of Asia to be considered as holding an inferior 
rank, since among them all were to be found the clearest 
evidences of advancement in art and science. These cities 
were all connected with each other and the capital by pub- 
lic highways formed of the most durable materials, by 
means of which intelligence of every description was con- 
veyed from and to the most distant parts of the empire by 
regular posts established under imperial authority. Oppor- 
tunity for similar intercourse was also presented by sea. 
Italy, though destitute of safe harbors, was by industry and 
skill made to abound in them. An instance of this is pre- 
sented in the formation of the port of Ostia, situate at the 
mouth of the Tiber. A comparatively perfect navigation 
being opened, a brisk interchange in the various articles of 
agriculture and manufacture was created. A desire for 
luxuries was enkindled, which was amply gratified by 
means of ships which brought the products of India to 
Myos-Hermos, a port of Egypt on the Bed Sea, and thence 
they were conveyed by land to Alexandria for distribution 
among the provinces or in the capital. 

The division of power was not the most important 
change introduced in the reign of Diocletian.* The royal 
residences of the emperors were removed from Borne: that 
of Diocletian to Nicomedia; that of Maximian to Milan: 

*Aug. His. Dioc. Zos., Bk. II. Notitia Dignitatum, at the end 
of Theodosian Code. Gib. Decline and Fall, ch. xvii. 



164 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PKOPHECl". 

which was a fatal blow to the exemptions the people of 
Eome and Italy had enjoyed, the sway of the guards and 
the power of the senators. The ministers now became the 
principal advisers of the emperors. Thus delivered from 
the restraints of the senate, the emperors possessed all the 
prerogatives of the most absolute kings. In order to estab- 
lish firmly these new assumptions of authority the pomp of 
a Persian court was introduced. Such was the state of 
affairs when Oonstantine came to the possession of the 
sceptre and fixed his capital at Constantinople. The 
changes made by him were rather those suggested by pru- 
dential considerations than by a spirit of innovation. The 
magistracy were subjected to three divisions: the illustri- 
ous, the respectable, and the honorable. The last was com- 
posed of such as were possessed of senatorial dignity; the 
respectable included all those who were entitled to a supe- 
rior rank; and the illustrious consisted of persons pre- 
eminent for their stations who were obeyed or venerated 
by the two subordinate classes. The consuls and patri- 
cians, the praetorian prefects, with the praefects of Rome 
and Constantinople, the masters-general of cavalry and 
infantry, and the seven ministers of the palace, were em- 
braced in this division. The first two were possessed of a 
rank more connected with honor than power. The pre- 
fects, after the destruction of the praetorian guards, were 
elevated to civil jurisdiction. The military and civil ad- 
ministration being thus separated, the generals of cavalry 
and infantry were created. The seven ministers of the 
palace consisted of a chamberlain, whose duty it was to at- 
tend the emperor in his hours of state or amusement; of 
the master of offices, upon whom devolved the administra- 
tion of public affairs; of the quaestor, whose province it was 
to form and deliver the imperial edicts; of the public and 
private treasurers, whose names indicate their duties; and 



THE EMPIEE TO ITS OVERTHROW BY THE OTTOMANS. 165 

of the two counts of the domestics, under whose control 
respectively were placed the bands of cavalry and infantry 
which guarded the person of the sovereign. The commu- 
nication between the new capital, to which Oonstantine had 
given his name, and the various parts of the empire was 
facilitated by the construction of roads and the institution 
of posts. For the more speedy transmission of royal mes- 
sages two or three hundred agents were employed. The 
expenses of the government were immense. In addition to 
the excise and customs, a direct tax was laid on the landed 
interest of the citizen. Surveyors were sent into all the 
provinces, who measured the lands, reported their quality, 
and estimated their value from the average produce of five 
years. The number of slaves and cattle were also returned. 
The proprietor was bound upon oath to make a full dis- 
closure of his affairs; elusion or prevarication was treated 
as a capital crime. A large proportion of the tribute was 
paid in current gold coin; the balance was discharged by 
delivering to the commissioners of the revenue articles of 
produce in such quantities as the annual indication of the 
emperor determined. The tax on trade was collected by a 
mode excessively severe. "Without regard to the ability of 
the debtor, his person was considered as the representative 
of the property assessed, and was liable to imprisonment, 
although deprived of his valuables, after the imposition was 
made, by means beyond his control. Another source of 
income was from an exaction denominated the coronary 
gold. Originally this was a voluntary offering made by the 
allies of the republic in gratitude for protection or deliver- 
ance consequent upon the Roman arms, or by the cities of 
Italy to grace the triumph of a victorious general. But 
eventually it became an exaction, and was so considerable 
as to amount from Rome alone to the sum of sixteen hun- 
dred pounds of gold, which was nearly equal to sixty-four 



166 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIEE AND PKOPHECY. 

thousand pounds sterling. The occasion upon which it 
was demanded now ceased to be that of a triumph, and 
arose whenever the emperor announced his accession, con- 
sulship, birth of a son, the creation of a Caesar, a victory 
over the barbarians, or any other great event. 

Without giving the details of the time or cause of 
Constat! tine's conversion, suffice it to say, after his victory 
over Licinius he immediately distributed letters throughout 
the empire in which he exhorted his subjects to pursue the 
example of their sovereign in embracing the sacred truths 
of Christianity. The sincerity of this profession was 
evinced in the subsequent conduct of the sovereign. De- 
sirous to bring the entire force of imperial influence to 
bear upon the object of its adoption, he eventually estab- 
lished the Christian Church in the full enjoyment of its 
rites and ceremonies, as well as in the possession of a com- 
petent share of property; while he elevated to the most 
distinguished posts of honor and emolument her professed 
sons and disciples. A change so important naturally sug- 
gests a reflection upon the previous condition of the Chris- 
tians. It was not long after the ascension of their Divine 
Master that his followers were pursued with malignant 
cruelty by the emperors. Considering the sentiments and 
morals inculcated by Christianity, as well as the vaunted 
liberality of polytheism, it is hard to find any reason for 
this conduct independent of the conclusions of ignorance, 
the promptings of prejudice, and the pride of power. The 
flame of persecution was first lighted by Nero, who, charg- 
ing upon the Christians the crime of having fired the capi- 
tal, inflicted on their persons the most severe punishments 
his native cruelty could invent. This, however, was confined 
to Eome alone. A more extensive scheme of operation was 
reserved for the time of Trajan, who in his directions to 
Pliny nicely graduates the amount of evidence necessary to 



the empire to its overthrow by the ottomans. 167 

fasten upon individuals the offence of Christianity, and 
suggests the punishment. A similar policy was pursued 
by Severus towards the close of his reign. The distracted 
Church then enjoyed peace until the reign of Decius, who 
during his short sway waged against it a war of extermina- 
tion. Valerian followed his footsteps; but under Gallienus 
commenced a period of quiet which continued for the 
space of forty years. The scene was changed by the edict 
of Diocletian. Persecution raged with unexampled severity 
throughout the western provinces, Italy, Africa, Illyricum, 
and the East. It is impossible to ascertain with certainty 
the number that suffered during these perilous times; yet 
it must have been considerable, even admitting the ob- 
scure and contradictory accounts of contemporary histori- 
ans. Convinced at last of the folly of attempting to force 
men's consciences on the subject of religion, Galerius, the 
worst of persecutors, proclaimed a toleration which was 
never materially invaded by imperial authority.* 

Eeversing the course of his father, Constantius bestowed 
the royal favors on Arius and his followers. The great ad- 
vocate of orthodoxy became the object of the emperor's 
vengeance, and, thrice exiled from his see, the bold, intrepid, 
and incorruptible Athanasius sought and obtained a home 
among the hospitable Trinitarians of the West. The aver- 
sion of Constantius would appear to have been more vindic- 
tive against polytheism than was that of his father. There 
is still preserved a royal edict which inflicted upon the mis- 
guided votaries of this system the punishment of death, and 
the confiscation of their goods to the public use after their 
execution. If the emperor's object was to enlighten the 

*Tac. An., 15, 38-44. Mos. Ch. His., 1st to 4th cent. Sozomen, 
Bk. III. ch. xviii. Rev. vi. 12-17. Eusebius, Ch. His. Gib. De- 
cline and Fall, in loc. 



168 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIKE AND PROPHECY. 

minds of this portion of his benighted subjects, the prin- 
ciples of our Lord Jesus Christ would have taught that the 
course he pursued was calculated to thwart his purpose 
and promote the triumph of his apostate kinsman. The 
accession of Julian opened a new scene to the empire.* 
Though educated in the principles of Christianity, he sub- 
sequently adopted the maxims of Grecian philosophy. 
The native enthusiasm of his mind, the perilous circum- 
stances of his life, and the unbroken succession of good 
fortunes which had crowned his career previous to his im- 
perial elevation, infused into his character an unhappy 
inclination to disregard the ordinary proprieties in dress 
and living. Still the impartial mind has the amplest rea- 
son for approbation in considering the wise regulations 
which the emperor established when he came into posses- 
sion of the royal household. The numerous and useless 
trains of domestics and dependants which had accumulated 
in the palace at Constantinople, for no other purpose than 
to enjoy a princely grandeur by administering to imperial 
wants which they created, were at once deprived of their 
ignominious occupations and immense revenues. The 
avowed attachment of Julian to pagan superstition induced 
its votaries to hope he would pursue a similar policy to that 
of Galerius. They were, however, disappointed. Either 
craft or humanity inclined the emperor to the wiser course 
of a toleration of all forms of religion. Nevertheless the 
patronage of the court was enjoyed exclusively by the an- 
cient superstition. The temples of polytheism were thrown 
open, its worshippers emboldened by honors and rewards, 
and its altars drenched with the blood of sacrifice. The 
palace and its gardens were filled with the statues of gods, 
while the emperor manifested his devotion by blowing the 

*Sozomen, Bk. V. ch. ii. Am. Mar., Bks. XXII., XXIII. 



THE EMPIRE TO ITS OVERTHROW BY THE OTTOMANS. 169 

fire, bringing the wood, and slaughtering the victims at 
the altar in the presence of priests and people. Deter- 
mined to re-establish a declining religion, Julian attacked 
the Christian cause in a learned dissertation which was dis- 
seminated throughout the empire, excluded Christians 
from teaching grammar and rhetoric, interdicted them 
from all public offices, and to afford a practical proof of 
the falsity of their faith he made a powerful effort to re- 
build the temple at Jerusalem and to restore the Jews to 
the Holy Land, their dispersion being conclusive evidence 
of the truth of prophecy. The bold enterprise was not 
sufficient to sustain a cause whose claims to credence had 
already proved insufficient with the discriminating and 
serious. A signal overthrow was connected with the work 
at Jerusalem, which indicated the power and presence of 
God too clearly to be denied.* Its announcement filled 
every Christian heart with honest joy, and produced in 
every pagan bosom the involuntary conviction of the utter 
hopelessness of polytheism. Contrary to expectation, the 
reign of Jovian brought universal toleration, which even 
the tyranny of Valentinian did not assume to interrupt, 
though the weakness of Yalens led him to display his par- 
tiality for the sect of Arians by persecuting the orthodox. 
The choice of Gratian determined the fate of the two great 
sects which divided the faith and fears of Christendom. 
The downfall of both Arianism and pagan superstition 
properly dates from the time of the first Theodosius. 

The increasing power of the barbarians and the influence of 
luxury occasioned a general relaxation of military discipline, 
as well as an universal corruption of manners, f A supersti- 

*Am. Mar., Bk. XXIII. ch. i. Rev. vi. 

fMos. Ch. Hist., 4th to 12th cent. Aug. Hist., Theod. Ar. Hon. 
Rev. xiii. 2 Thes. ii. 1-12. New. Dis., 17-23. 



170 OUTLINE EVOLUTIOK OF EMPIRE AETD PROPHECY. 

tion more flagrant than that of paganism was introduced 
into the Eoman world in the reign of Arcadius and 
Honor ius. Martyrs, both fabulous and real, became the 
objects of homage ; the relics of saints were carefully col- 
lected, sacredly preserved, and sincerely venerated. The 
policy of the now corrupted churchmen was to engage the 
attention of those whose prepossessions were in favor of 
the splendid display of paganism by an accurate assimila- 
tion of Christian worship to the forms of the ancient 
temples. Shrewd and fortunate as was this movement, 
candor must compel the confession that it involved 
Christianity in a condition equally destructive to its purity 
and pristine simplicity. Thus committed, its professors 
were under a sort of necessity to continue their appeals to 
the favor and their courtesies to the prejudices of a cor- 
rupted age. This step must be regarded as rather the 
legitimate result of gradual defection than the motion of 
temporary expediency. The time of its occurrence was in 
a generation ripened by a succession of events for the reign 
of a debasing superstition. The monastic life, which had 
taken its rise more than a century previous in Egypt, 
proved itself a potent instrument in the full development 
of this era. Under the favor of ecclesiastics an extensive 
degree of popularity had been given to it, and in the course 
of events an ignorant and credulous age had been disposed 
to look on it as the surest passport to divine favor and a 
certain cure for those evils which the want of true piety 
rendered intolerable. Lured by motives of this descrip- 
tion, an immense number of persons forsook the active 
duties of life to find a shelter and a home within the walls 
of a monastery. Though composed of individuals from 
every class of society, the tenants of these abodes were sub- 
jected to the strictest rules of government. Their dress, 
their diet, their labor, and even their devotions were so 



THE EMPIRE TO ITS OVERTHROW BY THE OTTOMAN'S. 171 

regulated as to secure a character for unparalleled sanctity. 
The visions of these enthusiasts soon came to be regarded 
as inspiration. The power of working miracles was attri- 
buted to them. The gratitude of a credulous world daily 
increased their authority and possessions, until the last rem- 
nants of science were swept from the distracted empire, 
and the word of God, as contained in the Sacred Scriptures, 
ceased to be the rule of faith and practice to the church. 
Such an overgrown power was a convenient refuge for Jus- 
tinian when his profusions and oppressions had weaned from 
him the hearts of his subjects. Hence his absorbing object 
was to secure the interest and affection of the clergy. 
Splendid temples were erected to flatter their pride, to 
further their devotions, and to fasten their power upon the 
community. The laws themselves were made subservient 
to this end, and no inconsiderable portion of that system 
of jurisprudence which it is the honor and glory of 
Justinian to have established carefully provides for the 
rights, marks out the jurisdiction, and secures the emolu- 
ments of the Church.* 

The Christian Church was rent asunder in the forepart 
of the eighth century by conflicting opinions among its 
members as to the use of images in divine worship, f The 
emperor, Leo III., excluded them from the services of 
the sanctuary. Gregory, the bishop of Eome, refused to 
comply with the decree. The rebellion of the pontiff ex- 
posed him at once to the indignation of the emperor and 
the cupidity of the Lombards. Thinking to avert the 
former, he plotted the destruction of the latter by uniting 



* Procopius de Edif . 

fRus. Mod. Eu., p. 36. Diac, Bk. VI. Kol. Ger., ch. xvi., 
xvii. Aug. Hist., Yol. V. ch. lxxxix.-xcii. New. Dis., 14, 22, 23. 
Malte-Brun, Bk. CXXXV. 1 Tim. iv. 2, 3. Rev. xiii. 



172 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OE EMPIEE AND PEOPHECY. 

with the Venetians against them. Though successful by 
this means in restoring Eavenna to the emperor, he failed 
in regaining his favor. The new exarch was therefore 
directed to enforce the decree against the use of images in 
divine worship, and to procure the seizure or asasssi nation 
of Gregory's person. The harshness of the order rendered 
the people of Eome obstinate in their idolatry, and their 
rebellion elevated a priest to temporal powers which the 
arms of Charles Martel, Pepin, his successors, and the 
sword of Charlemagne found it profitable to maintain. 
Thus originated the popedom, the sources of whose power 
in all subsequent times were the cunning of its clergy, the 
despotism of its chief, the splendor of its temple-service, 
and the suppleness of its ethics. By corrupt leagues with 
princes, whose titles to their sceptres were weak, it has 
enslaved nations, " spoken great things and blasphemies, 
done great wonders," and killed those that disputed its 
authority (Eev. xviii. 5, 13, 14). In its train followed 
superstition, with all its mystic mummeries. The height 
of its dominion was the depth of human degradation. Its 
present state affords no idea of what it was at that period. 
The Eeformation, which sprang from the bosom of papal 
power and was begotten by its errors and exactions, break- 
ing the charm of its influence, intellectual emancipation 
and evangelical enlightenment spread throughout the 
world and elevated the condition of the people of every 
land, papal, Protestant, and pagan, to the existing 
standard of perfection. 

The voluptuous Eoman, though able at an exorbitant 
price to number among his luxuries the article of silk, was 
until the reign of Justinian compelled to procure it from 
the distant regions of India. At this period, by imperial 
efforts, the rearing of the worm and the fabrication of the 



THE EMPIRE TO ITS OVERTHROW BY THE OTTOMANS. 173 

article commenced within the empire.* Its progress to 
perfection was of course slow. The emperor haying 
secured the favor of the Ethiopians of Abyssinia by treaty, 
procured their instrumentality in obtaining the eggs from 
whence the worm could be raised. The easy virtue of 
these traders suggested to them a plan of accomplishing 
the object of their royal patron. Having entered India 
with an apparently amicable intention, they succeeded in 
concealing the eggs of the worm in a hollow cane and bore 
back in triumph to their own land the long-sought prize. 
The eggs were hatched in the course of time by the artificial 
heat of dung ; the worms were fed upon the leaves of the 
mulberry ; butterflies enough to propagate the race were 
secured, and a sufficient number of trees were planted to 
provide nourishment for the rising race. Thus Justinian 
obtained the means of at once administering to his own 
avarice and the vitiated taste of his subjects. Notwith- 
standing, the government was unpopular and the citizens 
were rent asunder by the distractions of contending parties. 
Either the matrimonial or ministerial connections of the 
sovereign had induced him to depart from the strict 
economy of some of his immediate predecessors. To sus- 
tain the magnificence of this estate and to support the 
profitless wars in which the empire was involved, resort 
was made to the most burdensome taxes. Upon the 
farmer was imposed the annona, or supply of corn for the 
capital and army, which was graduated in its amount 
according to the wants of the needy monarch. The orial 
tribute, which was levied on the praetorian prefect, was no 
less burdensome to the people, inasmuch as the discretion 
of that officer dictated the source from whence it was to be 
collected. Monopolies in trade, the former objects of 

* Pro. Goth. War, Bk. IV. ch. x. 



174 OUTLIKE EVOLUTION OF EMPIKE AND PBOPHECY. 

Eoman hatred, were also created with, no sparing hand by 
the emperor; which, by reason of the check they gave to 
the competition of the industrious mechanic, served as an 
oppressive burden to the enterprise, ambition, and skill of 
the laboring classes of society. The court was the scene of 
a nefarious traffic in honors and offices, and the connivance 
of both emperor and empress to the disgraceful act is 
established by undoubted evidence. Yet, with the pro- 
ceeds of this immense revenue, the empire beheld unpaid 
soldiers begging bread, and unrewarded armies wasting 
away amid the wars of Italy and Persia. It required the 
talents of a Justinian to control popular disaffections like 
these. Still the emperor succeeded in the perilous work, 
and has left to posterity two imperishable monuments of his 
genius : the one, the splendid edifices with which he decorated 
his capital ; the other, the code of laws by which the rights 
and persons of his subjects were guarded and governed. 

The devotion of Justinian to the hierarchy was faith- 
fully imitated by his successors. During all the after- 
dynasties of the empire, to its very conclusion, sectarian 
dogmas divided and distracted the state. Princes lost or 
gained the sceptre as they happened to adhere to the un- 
popular or side with the ascendant party. The long, 
angry, and fluctuating cpntroversy about the use of images 
in divine worship which poured its bitter streams through- 
out the empire served to illustrate the extent of ecclesias- 
tical influence, to display the weakness as well as the 
wickedness of our common nature, to sow the seeds of dis- 
cord between the churches of Eome and Constantinople, 
and to complete the apostasy of both from the faith of Christ. 

The sovereignty of the empire was measurably retrieved 
by the valor and talents of Heraclius. During the most 
fortunate of the successive dynasties the widest extent of 
dominion stretched from the Tigris to the neighborhood of 



THE EMPIRE TO ITS OVERTHROW BY THE OTTOMANS. 175 

the ancient capital; but by far the greatest portion of them 
extended their sway no further than from the Danube to 
Peloponnesus, and from Belgrade to Nice, Trebizond, and 
the Meander, and at times were contracted within more 
circumscribed limits. Thus reduced as was the empire 
from its former dimensions, it still contained a greater 
amount of population and wealth than the largest kingdom 
of modern Europe. Its capital was unsurpassed in the 
splendor of its edifices and the riches of its inhabitants. 
Though the Grecian superstition enervated the minds of 
the Byzantine citizens from the days of Justinian, they 
were nevertheless the most ingenious and industrious of all 
the nations of the earth. A lucrative trade was conducted 
by the mariners of the Peloponnesus, who exchanged for 
the gold of the capital their country's produce, fine linens 
and woollens, carpets and silks of the most exquisite colors. 
Commerce was encouraged by a law exempting all the 
sailors of the Peloponnesus and the workmen in parch- 
ment and purple from much taxation to which others were 
liable. Greece alone until the twelfth century was pos- 
sessed of the worm from which silk is taken, and of the in- 
dividuals who understood the rearing of the insect and the 
fabrication of the article. After that period this invalu- 
able possession was transferred to Sicily, and thence intro- 
duced into the European countries. As did Greece, so did 
all the provinces furnish revenue to the sovereign, which 
was increased to an immense amount by the various sums 
levied on shops, taverns, markets, and foreign trade. ]STo 
authority on which much reliance can be placed fixes the 
total of these various items, although some fair conjecture 
as to it may be formed by adverting to the surplus in the 
vaults of Basil after the discharge of national liabilities, 
which was no less than two hundred thousand pounds of 
gold, or above eight millions sterling. The discretion or 



176 OUTLIKE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

caprice of the reigning monarch applied such portions of 
the income as were necessary to the enlargement or decora- 
tion of the royal buildings in the capital. These were 
constructed upon a principle of profusion vastly exceeding 
any precedent which Eastern luxury afforded. Gold, silver, 
marble, and precious gems were the materials with which 
the degenerate successors of Oonstantine beautified their 
royal residences. The pride which suggested such apologies 
for greatness naturally dictated a course of living and a 
train of distinctions equally unbecoming Roman emperors. 
Pleasure constituted the sole object of their pursuit, and to 
this end their summer and winter abodes were exquisitely 
adapted. 

The princes of the blood were respectively styled Despot 
or Lord, Sebastocrator, Caesar, Panhypersebastor, andProto- 
sebastos, which were useless names that could only gratify 
the vanity of their gaudy possessors. The substantial func- 
tions of government were exercised by the protovestiare, 
who presided over the wardrobe; the logothete, the supreme 
guardian of the laws and revenues, assisted by the eparch 
or prasfect of the city; the first secretary and the keepers of 
the privy seal, archives, and purple ink, with which the 
royal signature was made; the lieutenant of the great 
domestics, whose supervision pervaded the stables, cavalry, 
and hunting-train of the monarch; and the Great Duke, to 
whom was committed the command of the navy. To these 
pompous names, by which the emperor was concealed from 
his subjects, was added a pernicious Persian custom, first 
introduced by Diocletian. Whenever audience was given 
to any one, his costly presents being first received, he fell 
prostrate and kissed the feet of the emperor, who, clad in 
his purple buskins and glittering diadem, condescended to 
look on the suppliant from his massive throne, guarded as 
it was by roaring lions of gold. A display equally as puer- 



THE EMPIKE TO ITS OYEETHROW BY THE OTTOMAN'S. 177 

ile but less disgusting was presented on the stated and ex- 
traordinary processions of the monarch. These were 
announced by heralds the night before they took place. 
The streets were carefully cleansed, flowers strewed on the 
pavements, and silk hangings were tastefully arranged and 
suspended from the windows and balconies. At every con- 
venient station the ear was greeted with the sweetest notes 
of the most select musicians. 

The naval power of the empire was of great importance. 
The fleet for the reduction of Crete amounted to nearly 
two hundred vessels, and had on board not far from fifty 
thousand men. The galleys were of light structure, yet 
remarkably manageable, and were rendered very effective by 
means of the Greek fire and the control of skilful officers. 
Towards the period under review, the study and use of the 
Greek language were revived, though the emperor and 
people adhered to the name of Eomans. Genius, however, 
was not awakened from its long slumber, nor was national 
taste aroused. The conquest of the Latins opened the 
sources of information to the subjects of the empire. 
Whether any passion but that of avarice was excited is 
problematical. The arts and sciences remained stationary 
from this period to the final destruction of the capital. 
The learned, though familiar with the noblest models of 
ancient greatness and not ignorant of the then modern 
attainments, were satisfied with the contemplation of the 
one and the report of the other, without making an effort to 
imitate or exceed either. Such supineness characterized 
all classes, even to the hour that the crescent glittered 
upon the walls of Constantinople and the last emperor lost 
more by the listlessness of his subjects than by the valor of 
the Ottomans.* 

* Gib. Decline and Fall, ch. liii. Montesqieu's Rise and Fall of 
Rom. Emp., ch. xxii. pp. 282-5, 



178 OUTLIKE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 



CHAPTER X. 

THE EMPIRE OF THE SARACENS, TURKS, AND OTTOMAN'S 
FROM ITS RISE TO THE PRESENT TIMES. 

Ordinary events are often the occasion of the most 
astonishing results. Mohammed, of respectable parentage, 
declaiming unsuccessfully against the religion of Mecca, 
fled with a few followers to Medina, a neighboring town. 
As far astray from the truth as the idolaters whom they 
denounced, the self-constituted prophet and his com- 
panions would have now fallen into contempt had they 
not kindled a feud between their new protectors and their 
old enemies which, in the end, enabled them to subdue 
not only Mecca but Arabia. Thus was established the 
Empire of the Saracens, arising at first like "the smoke 
of a great furnace," and in the short space of ten years 
overcasting the Eastern Hemisphere. On the death of 
Mohammed, Ali, the husband of his daughter Fatima, 
must have succeeded to the sceptre but for the arts of 
Ayesha, his mother-in-law. "Warm dissensions ensued 
which threatened to nip the new religion in its bud. The 
disinterested proposition of Omar to devolve the chief ship 
on Abubeker prevailing, the excitements were allayed.* 
In two years Abubeker died, and Omar became khalif. 
Old strifes revived with renewed fury. So high were they 
carried that Omar fell by the dagger of an assassin, in the 

*Elmakin's His. Sar. Em. Ockley's His. Sar. Rev. ix. 2-19. 
Augustan His., Vol. VII. pp. 468, 526, 683, 733. Newton's Dis., 
2, 24. 



EMPIEE OF THE SARACENS, TURKS, AND OTTOMANS. 179 

tenth year of his reign. Six electors, of whom Ali was 
one, chose Othman, the late secretary of Mohammed, to 
the vacant throne. The extreme age of the khalif inca- 
pacitated him for power; his subjects becoming discon- 
tented, appealed to arms, and Othman, overpowered at 
Medina, fell clasping the Koran to his bosom. Popular 
feeling turned in favor of Ali, and he obtained a long- 
sought sceptre. The daring spirit of youth still swelled 
the bosom of the old khalif. Ample opportunity was soon 
presented for its display. Telha and Zobeir, two formida- 
ble chiefs, rebelled. The courage of Ali was irresistible; 
the enemy was defeated, the rebels were slain. No sooner 
was this faction crushed than a more powerful foe ap- 
peared in Moawiyah, son of Aboo Sofian, who declared 
himself khalif and the avenger of Othman. Ali met the 
usurper in the plain of Seffin, where, after a successful 
contest of one hundred and ten days, he would have 
proved victor had not his mutinous troops lost him the 
prize. This was but the beginning of his misfortunes. 
Three enthusiasts meeting in the temple of Mecca agreed 
that the only cure for the disorders of church and state 
was the destruction of Ali, Moawiyah, and Aniroo his ally. 
Each chose his victim, poisoned his arrow, and repaired to 
the place of destination. None was successful save he 
who had plotted the death of Ali. 

Moawiyah became khalif, and removed the seat of 
empire to Damascus. During the times of the first four 
khalifs the victorious arms of the Saracens extended from 
the deserts of Arabia to the banks of the Oxus and Indus, 
the shores of the Euxine and Caspian. The Nile watered 
their dominions; Africa, Cyprus, and Ehodes submitted 
to their champions. The house of Ommiyah continued 
almost a century in power. During this period Saracen 
sway was extended from the Atlantic to India ; Africa and 



180 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIEE AND PROPHECY. 

Spain were completely subjugated ; and nothing but the 
arm of Charles Martel prevented Europe from its grasp. 
Notwithstanding this extensive range of foreign conquest, 
the Ommiyades were never able to establish their throne 
in the affections of the people. The family of Mohammed 
were still regarded as rightfully entitled to the power of 
their ancestor. These consisted of two branches — the 
Fatimites, or the descendants of Ali by Fatima; the 
Abbasides, or children of Abbas, the uncle of Mohammed. 
The former were defective in talent; the latter were pos- 
sessed of every quality that could enable them to hold the 
sceptre of a mighty empire. Persia soon resounded with 
the conflicts of the Ommiyades and Abbasides; the former 
displayed the white banner, the latter unfurled the black. 
Upon the destruction of Ibrahim, the chief of the house of 
Abbas, his brothers Saffah and Almanzor fled to Cufa, 
where Saffah was proclaimed khalif. The Ommiyade 
chief, Mervan II., collected a large army, and meeting the 
hosts of his rival on the banks of the Zab, a battle was 
fought which resulted in the success of the Abbasides. 
Mervan escaped to Egypt, and in a second engagement at 
Busir, on the banks of the Nile, the event was fatal to his 
sceptre and life. Saffah, established on the throne, de- 
troyed all the house of Ommiyah except one youth, by 
name Abd-er-rahman, who fled to Africa and was after- 
wards elevated in Spain. The first of the Abbasides did 
not reign long. Almanzor, who succeeded, removed the 
royal residence to the banks of the Tigris, where were laid 
the foundations of the far-famed Bagdad (a.d. 762). 
Mohadi recovered the domains which the powers of Con- 
stantinople had wrested from the Saracens during the civil 
commotions. Haroon, at the head of a large army, dictated 
his own terms to Irene. In the subsequent reign of Haroon- 
el-Rasheed the Just, the Grecian territory was subjected to 



EMPIRE OF THE SARACENS, TURKS, AND OTTOMANS. I5X~ 

greater inroads and the treasury of Bagdad was enriched 
by the gold of the imperial city. Al Maroon performed no 
deeds of martial daring, yet his fame has proved more en- 
during than that of his father by reason of the encourage- 
ment he extended to scientific pursuits. Saracenic rule, 
however, had reached its utmost limits. Spain, Africa, 
Syria, were one after another dismembered. Motassem, 
the eighth of the house of Abbas, to fortify himself against 
ruin formed the plan of creating a body-guard from the 
warlike bands of Turks beyond the Jihon. Fifty thousand 
of these people were accordingly collected about the royal 
residence at Bagdad. On the death of Motassem they 
were treated with cruelty by his son Motawakkel, whom 
they murdered at the suggestion of his son Mostauser* 
The unnatural son felt the punishment of his vices in the 
ceaseless pangs of a chiding conscience, which soon cut 
short his days. Kid of their rulers, the guards bestowed 
the vacant throne on the weak Mosteyoo, uncle to the 
wicked Mostauser, merely for the purpose of obtaining the 
right to nominate their own commander. Completely 
dominant, the haughty Turks committed every outrage on 
the khalifs; beating them with clubs, dragging them by the 
feet, exposing their half -naked persons to the piercing rays 
of the sun. Such enormities could not fail to effect the 
ruin or rouse the resistance of the khalifate. The latter 
proved to be the result. Mohtadi Billah made an effort to 
regain his power. Seizing the commander of the guards, 
he directed him to be decapitated in the palace. As the 
Turks rushed round the royal dwelling, the bloody head of 
their chief was thrown into their midst. Enraged by the 
act, the veteran bands forced their way into the building 
and satisfied their revenge by the sacrifice of their sove- 
reign. Intent upon the object in the accomplishment of 
which his brother fell a martyr, Moktader resolved to de- 



182 OUTLIKE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AHD PROPHECY. 

stroy liis military enemies. Under the specious plea of 
protecting the frontiers of the empire, the guards were re- 
moyed. This policy afforded a temporary relief to the 
royal resident of Bagdad; but the disease that preyed on 
his political power was incurable, and the defection of 
kingdom after kingdom finally eventuated in the downfall 
of the Saracens and the exaltation of the Turks (a.d. 1055). 
Toghrul Beg, the Turkish chief, was the terror of the 
Eomans, the conqueror of Bagdad, and the lord of all 
Mohammedans. Alp Arslan came to power on the death 
of his uncle Toghrul. The invasion of the Eoman do- 
minions was more terrific than ever; penetrating Phrygia 
and carrying captive Eomanus Diogenes, the emperor. 
The passion of Malek Shah, the son and successor of Alp, 
sought gratification in nobler scenes than those of blood 
and conquest. The advancement of men of genius and 
the promotion of learning were the great objects of the 
reign. The ambition of the sovereign, however, was too 
exalted for the taste of his subjects. Scenes of violence 
ensued. The vizier was murdered, and the monarch did 
not long survive. The empire was shaken to its centre by 
the conflicts of Malek's sons. Defections were wide-spread 
and rapidly successive. Eventually the great irruption of 
the Moguls extinguished the house of Seljook (a.d. 1278). 
Amidst the changes consequent on these revolutions, Su- 
leiman, one of the bravest of the Turkish tribes, with fifty 
thousand of his countrymen, left Khorassen, to seek a 
settlement in Armenia. After a stay of gome years, the 
chief in returning home was drowned in the Euphrates, 
and his followers dispersed. Or toghrul, with a portion of 
his father's forces, in removing from their temporary resi- 
dence on the mountains of Erzeroom through the do- 
minions of Ala-ed-deen, the sultan of Iconium, approached 
two armies in battle. Nobly siding with the weaker force, 



EMPIRE OF THE SARACENS, TURKS, AND OTTOMANS. 185 

the fugitive chieftain turned the victory in its favor. The 
grateful sultan bestowed on his generous ally and his 
people extensive pasture-grounds in the ancient Phrygia 
Epictetos.* Among these valleys and mountains the Otto- 
man power began first to thrive under the fostering care of 
Osman, son of Ortoghrul, who established a kingdom in 
Bithynia, of which he made Prusa, at the foot of the 
Mysian Olympus, the capital. Orclian, the second of this 
line, added to his patrimony by arms much of Lesser Asia, 
and secured the prospects of his crown by the establish- 
ment of a corps styled janizaries. The work of the father 
was well applied by his son and successor Amurath, who 
extended the national boundaries by the conquest of 
Adrian ople, the purchase of Hamid, and the acquisition of 
the larger part of Kermain by marriage. Bajazet, who in- 
herited the sceptre, stained the commencement of his reign 
by the murder of his only brother; but the foulness of the 
act was forgotten by his subjects in the contemplation of 
the glory which he won at Nicopolis as the victor over the 
combined forces of Christian Europe. Constantinople was 
now the prize which fired the ambition of the Ottomans. 
The approach of the Tartars, under Timoor, diverted their 
attention (a.d. 1402). The fatal field of Angora was at 
once the salvation of the capital and the confusion of its 
enemies. The wisdom of Mohammed I., however, retrieved 
public affairs. Moorad II. manifested still greater capacity 
than his father, extending the Ottoman sway to nearly all 
the possessions of the Greek emperors. Mohammed II. 
finished the work and seized the throne of the Caesars. 
Bayezeed succeeded to a sceptre which he held peacefully 
for thirty years, and would have enjoyed through life had 

* Cantemir's His. of the Othman Empire. Aug. His., Vol. VII. 
p. 474. 



184 OUTLTST EVOLUTION OF EMPIEE A>'D PEOPHECT. 

not a wicked son snatched it from his grasp. The ties 

less Selim was a wretch of a day; yet he was the father of 
Suleiman, whose encouragement of learning and extent of 
conquest have won him the title of the magnificent and 
great, and under wh:se sway the empire of the Ottom; 
::::;dned its summit (a.d. 1565). The time of declension 
commences from this bright period, jus: ;.s the rising cloud 
eclipses the splendor of a meridian sun. The succeeding 
sultans have acted a secondary part in the affairs of the 
world; a detailed account, therefore, of their reigns would 
be prematurely anticipating the events of gre: ttei empires. 
In the image of Daniel " the gold " is not more descrip- 
tive of the Assyrian, c 'ihs silTer" of the Medo-Persian, 
" :he brass" of the Grecian, '"the iron" of the sole, and 
" the two leg3 partly of clay and partly of iron,*'* of the 
divided supremacy of the Soman Empire, than are "the 
ten toes*' of the ten nations or races * from which was 
spring the empire that should be the chief stay of " the 
man of sin"" and " the locusts" of that power which should 
s~rep from existence the last remnant of the empire of the 
Bimans in the Z.s:. 1 The visions of John, the victim of 
Caesar, are jus: as lemarkable as those of Daniel, the cap- 
tive of Cyrus. Both in connection form a beautiful out- 
line of human actions from the time of Xinus to the con- 
summation of that grand scheme of divine love for the 
accomplishment of which God has shaped events in all 
ages, though in perfect harmony with human responsibility, 
and will continue in the same manner to control the doings 
of future generations until the race of Adam shall be re- 
claimed from the dominion of sin, and Jesus Christ, their 
deliverer, reign King of nations, as he is and ever ha3 been 
•• King :: saints"! 

*Malte-Bnin's Geo. Bk X JVt New. Ma 14 f Rev. ix. 4-21. 



EMPIRE OF THE FRANKS TO THE DEATH OF LOUIS XII, 185 



CHAPTER XI. 

THE NEUSTRIAtf DIVISION OF THE EMPIRE OF THE FRANKS 
TO THE DEATH OF LOUIS XII, 

Clotis destroyed the power of the Romans and Visi- 
goths in Gaul, and founded on their ruins the Empire of 
the Franks.* The acquisitions of the father were divided 
among his four sons: Thierry took that part which lies be- 
tween the Rhine and the Meuse, having Metz as its capital; 
Childebert was king of Paris; Clodonmir, of Orleans; Clo- 
taire, of Soissons. Bloody dissensions ensued which resulted 
in the sole succession of Clotaire. A second quadruple 
division on the death of the king was followed by similar 
results. Justice and generosity exalted the character of 
Clotaire II. Dagobert, his son, however, disgraced and 
terminated his reign and life by his vices. The twelve suc- 
ceeding kings were pageants; the mayors of the palace 
held the power. Pepin Heristal, Duke of Austrasia, ruled 
France for twenty-eight years. Charles Martel, descended 
from the deceased duke, was the idol of his country and the 
protector of Europe. Pepin, the son of the departed hero, 
became actually sovereign. Charles and Carloman were 
the sons of the late king. The latter died soon after his 
father. The former became sole sovereign. In the space 
of thirty years Charles extended his arms to Italy, Ger- 
many, and Spain; was universally acknowledged Emperor of 
the West (a.d. 800); "and gave his power and his seat and 



* Lardner's Cabinet Cyclopaedia (History: France). Vol. I. cli. 
i.-iv. Aug. Hist., Vol, V. in loc. 



186 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

great authority" to the Eoman hierarchy. His successors 
followed in his footsteps. In the course of time ignorance 
and superstition triumphed and the lights of Christianity 
and science were almost extinguished in Europe; the pope 
being considered the principle of unity to its kingdoms, a 
denial of which incurred death. (Eev. xiii. New., p. 546. 
Chapter V., ante.) Louis, the son and successor of Charle- 
magne, at the outset of his reign offended the clergy by 
attempting a reformation, and pleased his children by di- 
viding with them his power and dominions. The wrath of 
the one and the ingratitude of the other followed the king 
through a life of care and change. The old cause of quarrel, 
the division of the empire, continued to agitate the reign of 
Lothario, who, though beaten at Fontenay, was able soon to 
raise an army sufficiently formidable to extort from his 
adversaries a treaty by which the sceptre of his father and 
all the countries between the Ehone and Alps, the Meuse 
and Ehine, fell to his lot, while his brother Charles took 
Aquitaine and Neustria, and his brother Louis Germany. 
The constitutions of Mersen shortly after confirmed the 
imperial sceptre to the children of Lothario. Divisions of 
power and dominion created contentions. Perpetual wars 
followed for over a century, when the Carlovingian dynasty 
yielded to the popularity of Hugh Capet. In eight years 
Eobert the second of this line succeeded to the sceptre, 
which after a reign marked by no important events came to 
the possession of his son Henry I. The sway of this king 
was quite as inglorious as that of his father. Philip the son 
of Henry was a minor at his father's death. Baldwin Earl 
of Flanders became the guardian of the prince, discharged 
his duties with fidelity and, dying, left Philip at fifteen 
years of age in possession of the throne. The Council of 
Clermont distinguishes this period (a.d. 1095). The fa- 
mous plan of a crusade having for its object the recovery 



EMPIKE OF THE PRANKS TO THE DEATH OF LOUIS XII. 187 

of the Holy Land originated in this body. Peter the Her- 
mit in his pilgrimage to "the Sepulchre" had encountered 
great difficulties. Europe was roused by his declamations 
against the Turks. The more experienced leaders were 
Hugh Count of Vermandois, Eobert Duke of Normandy, 
Godfrey Prince of Brabant, and Stephen Count of Blois. 
Fearing that the greatness of the forces would defeat their 
purpose, the generals persuaded Peter, at the head of an 
undisciplined multitude of three hundred thousand men, to 
set out by land for Palestine. In the course of their jour- 
ney they were almost entirely destroyed. Twenty thousand 
got to Constantinople. The emperor furnished them ves- 
sels to cross the Bosphorus. In Asia they were slaughtered 
by the Turks. (Rev. ix. 14-18.) Godfrey and his com- 
panions had better success. Nice and Antioch were taken, 
Jerusalem conquered, and their leader became its king. 
Propitious as was the commencement of the life of Philip, 
his subsequent days were disturbed by the contentions of 
the nobles. Louis VI., his son, was more fortunate. A 
war with England gave popularity to his rule and roused 
national emulation. The monarch having acquired suffi- 
cient strength to curb the ambition of the nobles, effectually 
accomplished this object by creating the commons and es- 
tablishing courts of appeal. 

An unmixed cup of calamity falls to the lot of few mor- 
tals; Louis VII., however, was one of that few. In the 
commencement of his reign the town of Vitri was taken 
and burned. Thirteen hundred persons lost their lives in 
a church which was fired. So deeply did the event affect 
the king that he made immense preparation for a crusade 
to the Holy Land. Defeat and the loss of his wife's affec- 
tions followed in rapid succession. Philip Augustus, his son, 
united his arms with Richard I. of England in the holy 
wars which proved so calamitous to his father. Deserting 



188 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

his ally, he returned home and attempted designs on Brit- 
ain; which in the reign of John, Richard's successor, added 
the continental possessions of the English to the French 
crown. The battle of Bouyines gave Philip a victory over 
the Flemish and German forces and secured his dominions 
for the future. Louis VIII., the son of Philip, had neither 
the talents nor courage of his father. He lived and died 
in an effort to subdue the Albigenses, a pious people in the 
south of France who had excited the indignation of the 
pope by opposing his temporal authority. His son, Louis 
IX., a minor twelve years old, took the crown under the 
regency of his mother, Blanche of Castile. When possessed 
of power the king prepared to enter the wars of Palestine. 
On arriving in Egypt, Damietta fell into his hands. One 
half the troops died by sickness; the survivors were de- 
feated by the soldan of Egypt at Mansourah, where the 
king's brother was killed and Louis taken prisoner. Dami- 
etta was besieged and returned to the Mohammedans by 
the French upon the liberation of their king. One thou- 
sand pieces of gold were paid for the other prisoners. On 
his return to France, the disorders of the state presented a 
wide field for the action of a wisdom which Louis proved 
to possess. The most delicate subjects were managed with 
profound ability. The right of appeal from the decisions 
of the courts was confirmed; private wars, the bane and 
offspring of feudal anarchy, were prohibited; judicial proof 
substituted for that by duel; and France rescued from the 
exactions of Rome. The greatest and best men are liable 
to error. The close of Louis' reign presents an incident 
which detracts from his merits. Charles, the king's brother, 
by color of a grant from England, and aided by the pope, 
managed to obtain the crown of Sicily and publicly ex- 
ecuted Conradine and his uncle. Louis sanctioned this 
enormity. Not disheartened by the result of the former 



EMPIEE OF THE FKA^KS TO THE DEATH OF LOUIS XII. 189 

crusade, the king raised a new force against the Turks. 
Supposing he could make a convert of the chief of Tunis, 
he landed upon the shores of Africa. The Moslem re- 
jected Christianity. The French were seized with the epi- 
demic, which destroyed among its numerous victims the 
king and his son. Philip III., the son and successor of 
Louis, recovered, maintaining the field against his enemies, 
and returning home with the shattered troops. Sicilian 
affairs had tarnished the memory of his father, and they 
ruined the prospects of the son. 

Philip IV. is known by his quarrel with the pope and 
his persecution of the Templars. Boniface VIII. forbid 
the clergy to give pecuniary aid to the king without his 
consent. Philip in return interdicted the clergy from 
sending money abroad without royal permission. Bernard 
Saisseti was deputed as the pope's legate to the court of 
France. The conduct and pretensions of the nuncio in the 
presence of the kiog led to his delivery to his metropolitan, 
the archbishop of Narbonne. The pope issued a bull de- 
claring his authority over the kings and kingdoms of the 
earth, and citing the French clergy to repair to Eome. A 
French archdeacon carried the bull to Philip, commanding 
him under pain of excommunication to acknowledge the 
sovereignty of Boniface. The king ordered the bull to be 
thrown into the fire, and forbid the clergy from departing 
the realm. Forty ecclesiastics, however, went to Eome, 
and their temporalities were seized by the royal agents. 
The states-general were assembled. The cities were for the 
first time allowed a representation in this body. The 
sovereignty of Philip was acknowledged and the pope's 
claim disallowed. De Dagoret was immediately sent into 
Italy to raise troops, and a league formed with the family of 
Colonna. An army was marshalled under Dagoret and 
Qolonna, who surprised the pope at Anagni. Arrayed in 



190 OUTLIKE EVOLUTION" OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

his official robes, the pontiff stood before his conquerors. 
Oolonna demanded of him the renunciation of his office. 
' 1 1 am pope, and will die pope/' replied Boniface. The 
conduct of the general and the reply of the pope so affected 
the citizens that they rose and rescued the captive. Boni- 
face survived these indignities but a few days, when Clement 
V. succeeded and revoked the objectionable acts of his pre- 
decessor. 

The Knights Templars constituted a society which orig- 
inated in the enthusiasm of the crusades. Philip, charging 
on it a connection with seditious movements in Paris, 
ordered all the Templars in France to be imprisoned. 
Many were put to the rack, while others perished. Fifty- 
four Templars were burned as relapsed heretics. John De 
Molay, the grand master of the order, and another officer 
were conducted to a scaffold before the church of Notre 
Dame at Paris, and a pardon being offered to them upon 
confession, the reward of their fortitude in refusing was 
the flames. Thus was the order suppressed and its prop- 
erty placed at the disposal of the crown. 

Louis X., the son of Philip IV., began his reign by kill- 
ing his prime minister and confiscating his property. The 
two succeeding reigns of Philip V. and Charles IV. were 
short and unimportant. The direct male line failing in 
the last, Philip of Valois, cousin-german to Charles, came 
to the sceptre. Disturbances in Brittany involved him in 
war with England. The British arms well-nigh proved 
fatal to him at Cressy,* where firearms were first used. 
Calais was snatched from him. Nothing but a truce 
brought relief. John, his successor, was still more unfor- 
tunate. The conspiracy of the king of Navarre shook the 
throne at the commencement of the reign. The battle of 

*Lard., ch, iv. pp. 81, 82. Kol. Ger., p. 243. 



EMPIRE OF THE FRANKS TO THE DEATH OF LOUIS XII. 191 

Poictiers soon followed, when the French were defeated and 
the king made prisoner. Another truce restored John to 
his country. The states-general were assembled.* In- 
stead of giving supplies, they demanded a limitation of the 
royal prerogative and the freedom of the king of Navarre. 
Faction spread havoc on every side. Domestic discord, 
however, in this instance proved a national blessing. The 
English landed; the country was so desolated that they 
could not subsist. The treaty of Bretigni was therefore 
concluded, by which John was to pay three millions of 
crowns of gold for his ransom, Edward to surrender all 
claim to Normandy, Maine, Touraine, and Anjou; in ex- 
change for which he was to receive Poitou, Saintonge, 
TAngenois, Perigord, the Limousin, Quercy, Eovergue, 
FAngoumois, Calais, G-uisnes, Montreuil, and the county 
of Pontieu. John obtained his liberty and returned to 
France; but not being able to meet the demands of the 
treaty, he went back to England, where he died about one 
year afterwards. Charles V., his son, became sovereign. 
Kidding himself of the king of Navarre and the banditti 
which had infested the nation, Charles asserted his claim 
to the English provinces on the continent. Hostilities 
were again commenced. A singular reverse of fortune at- 
tended the arms of Britain. France fell under the govern- 
ment of a minor on the death of Charles V. The infancy 
of the king did not prove as disastrous as his subsequent 
insanity. Taking advantage of this melancholy event, the 
Dukes of Orleans and Burgundy arrayed parties in the 
deadliest forms of hostility. The murder of the former 
lighted the flames of civil war. In rapid succession fol- 
lowed the victories of the invading English, until France, 
crippled by the enormities of her sons and pursued by the 

* Froissart, 



192 OUTLINE EVOLUTION" OF EMPIKE AND PROPHECY. 

arms of her enemies, was compelled to conclude the treaty 
of Troye (a.d. 1420),* by which the crown of France was 
transferred to the house of Lancaster. Notwithstanding 
this act, Charles VII., the son of the last king, came to the 
throne on the death of his father, Charles VI. The British 
marshalled their forces to effect the treaty. Charles, de- 
feated at Verneuil and besieged at Orleans, concluded to 
seek refuge in Languedoc. A remarkable incident changed 
the face of affairs. In the Tillage of Domremi lived a 
female, Joan d ? Arc, the servant at an inn, who having 
heard of the many feats of courage displayed by her coun- 
trymen, and being deeply affected by the distress of the 
king, was fired by the daring enthusiasm of attempting to 
relieve her prostrate country. In her constant reflections 
on the subject she mistook the impulses of passion for the 
emotions of inspiration. Repairing to the governor of her 
native province, Joan announced her heavenly mission. 
That functionary, struck with the singularity of the occur- 
rence, perceived what use could be made of it, and accord- 
ingly sent the maid to the court at Chinon. Introduced 
to the king, Joan offered in the name of God to raise the 
siege of Orleans and to conduct the sovereign to Rheims 
to be crowned and anointed. The only demand she made 
was the possession of a particular sword in the church of 
St. Catherine de Fierbois. Charles, to test the firmness of 
the novel petitioner, pretended to doubt her representa- 
tions. In order, however, to settle the subject, the whole 
matter was referred to an assembly of divines and a jury 
of matrons. The former pronounced her mission super- 
natural, the latter declared her an unspotted virgin, while 
parliament attested her inspiration. Equipped for her 
work, Joan was received by the inhabitants and garrison of 

*De Comines. 



EMPIRE OF THE FRAKKS TO THE DEATH OF LOUIS XII. 193 

Orleans as a celestial deliverer, and, to the astonishment of 
the world, not only succeeded in routing the British in 
many desperate engagements, but finally raised the siege of 
the city. At the head of twelve thousand men, the mar- 
tial virgin actually passed through the country fortified 
by the enemy's garrisons, and arriving at Eheims, verified 
her mission in the crowning and anointing of the king. 
Although the English went through the same ceremony 
as to Henry VI., the pretended king under the treaty of 
Troye, succeeded in taking prisoner and executing Joan, 
still they could not stem the torrent of popular delusion 
which had concentrated all the energies of the French. 
The British cause was ruined; the French regained all their 
possessions except Calais, and Charles VII. was left in 
undisputed possession of the sceptre. Louis XI.* was the 
opposite of his father. Ministers of mature judgment 
gave place to men of degraded character. The nobles, 
deprived of their rights, openly rebelled. To allay their 
vengeance, the king gave them terms which he avoided by 
the decision of the states-general. The Duke of Burgundy 
was not so easily ensnared. Seizing Louis, Burgundy com- 
pelled him to perform all his promises. On the death of 
Louis XL, his son Charles VIII. , a youth fourteen years of 
age, took the sceptre under the guardianship of his sister. 
Intent upon asserting his title to the kingdom of Naples, 
the king, when arrived at age, settled his domestic con- 
cerns and invaded Italy. Great success attended his march; 
but a league between Germany, Spain, and the Italian 
states stripped him of all his conquests. Louis XII. was 
equally as unfortunate as his father in Italy, and would 
have suffered sorely from the invasion of the English king 
and German emperor had not the season of the year com- 

*Lr., Vol. I. ch. v.-x.j Vol. II. ch. i.-iii. 



194 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIEE AND PROPHECY. 

pelled them to withdraw. Notwithstanding his misfor- 
tunes^ Louis was beloved by his subjects. A single fact in 
his life unfolds his character. Being told that his economy 
had been ridiculed, the king observed, "Iliad rather my 
people should smile at my parsimony than weep at their 
own oppressions." 



CHAPTER XII. 

THE NEUSTRIAN DIVISION OF THE EMPIEE OF THE FRANKS 
TO THE ACCESSION OF LOUIS XIV. 

Francis I., the son-in-law of the late king, came to the 
throne.* The first object of his ambition, the recovery of 
Milan, he effected by one of the bloodiest battles of modern 
times at Marignano. Foiled in his attempt to obtain the 
sceptre of the German Empire, the king became the 
implacable enemy of the emperor of Germany, Charles 
V. Desolating wars ensued in rapid succession. Francis 
restored John d' Albert to the kingdom of Navarre, and 
encouraged the Duke of Bouillon to invade Luxembourg. 
Charles repaired both injuries, but sustained a defeat at 
Mezieres in attempting to retaliate by an invasion of 
France. These events, together with the unfortunate as- 
sault of the French king on the Low Countries, caused 
a league between the emperor, the pope, and the king of 
England to expel Francis from Italy. Victory attended 
the arms of the allies at Pavia, where they made the king 
of France prisoner. The emperor finally liberated Francis, 

*Lr., Vol. I. ch. v.-x.; Vol. II. cb. i.-iii. See Chapter XVI., 
after, for Reformation. Kobertson's Clixirles V. 



EMPIRE OF THE FRANKS TO ACCESSION OE LOUIS XIV. 195 

mainly on his promise to restore Burgundy and deliver 
his two sons as hostages. Burgundy was not restored by 
the king of France, nor the two children by the emperor. 
England and the pope united with Francis to compel 
Charles to return the young princes on the payment of a 
reasonable sum of money as a ransom. Charles was again 
victorious, and Rome fell into his hands. The mother of 
Francis and the aunt of Charles at last settled the affair 
by the treaty of Cambray, which provided that Francis 
should pay two millions of crowns for his children and 
resign Flanders and Artois and Italy, whilst Charles should 
cease to demand the restitution of Burgundy. Francis 
still entertained designs on Italy, yet he was not able to do 
more than assail the domains of the Duke of Savoy. 
Charles seized Milan on the death of its duke. War was 
again renewed. The emperor entered France at different 
points with a great army which was eventually compelled 
to withdraw for want of subsistence, as the country had 
been completely desolated by royal authority. The claim 
of the emperor to Flanders and Artois was now forfeited 
by the French. A furious war would have followed but 
for the interference of the pope. The truce only stayed 
hostilities; the first occasion kindled the flame. The min- 
isters of Francis were shortly afterwards put to death by the 
governor of Milan. Reparation was demanded and evaded. 
The French were soon in arms, and the battle of Cerisoles 
gave them a victory over the imperialists. The rival mon- 
archs became tired at last of contention and bloodshed. 
The treaty of Crespy followed, by the terms of which 
Charles was to give his eldest daughter, or the second 
daughter of his brother Ferdinand, to the Duke of Orleans 
with the investiture of Milan, while Francis was to cease 
all pretensions to Naples, Flanders, and Artois, and Charles 
to Burgundy, and both unite their arms against the Turks. 



196 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIEE AND PEOPHECY. 

Francis I. dying shortly after this event, Henry II., his. 
son, took the sceptre. An alliance with the Elector of 
Saxony enabled the French to master Metz, Toul, and 
Verdun. To arrest these movements Charles invested 
Metz. The French advanced on Italy, took Calais and 
Thionville, and checked the Spanish in Picardy. The 
dreadful waste of human life threatened by this state of 
affairs was averted by the treaty of Chateau Cambresis, 
which restored all conquests since the comencement of the 
war in 1551 made west of the Alps by either of the bellig- 
erents; provided that Savoy and all its dependencies should 
be returned to Emanuel Philibert, its duke, upon his mar- 
riage with Margaret of France; and directed that the 
French king should renounce all claim to Tuscany and 
Siena, receive the Genoese into favor, retaining the posses- 
sion of Metz, Toul, and Verdun. 

Francis II. came to the throne on the death of his father, 
Henry II. The power was in the hands of the Duke of 
Guise. Two objects distinguished this administration: 
the destruction of the Protestant influence by the ruin of 
the king of Navarre and the Prince of Conde; the union 
of France and Scotland in order to place the crown of 
England on the head of Mary, queen of the Scots, the 
niece of the minister and the wife of the monarch. The 
death of the king blasted these prospects by bringing the 
queen-mother, Catharine of Medicis, into power as guardian 
of her son, Charles IX., now ten years of age. The con- 
dition of France was exceedingly critical. Catharine in- 
creased troubles by the practice of her favorite maxim of 
dividing in order to govern. Endeavoring to balance the 
Catholics against the Protestants, the Prince of Conde 
against the Duke of Guise, the regent threw power into the 
hands of Conde and the Huguenots. An edict was issued 
by which the Protestants were permitted the free exercise of 



"EMPIRE OF THE FRANKS TO ACCESSION OF LOUIS XIV. 197 

religion without the walls of towns, provided they taught 
nothing contrary to the Council of Nice, the Apostles' Creed, 
and the Old and New Testament. This law was one of the 
results of the conference of Poissy, where the two forms 
of faith had been discussed. Pursuant to the privilege 
granted, a body of Protestants, when holding their meet- 
ing in a barn at the town of Vassay, were assailed by 
the retinue of the Duke of Guise, who happened to 
pass. A tumult ensued in which sixty of the unarmed 
worshippers were slain. The Protestants throughout 
the kingdom flew to arms under Conde, Coligny, and 
Andelot; while the Catholics rallied under the Duke of 
Guise and the Constable Montmorency, who, haying got 
possession of the king's person, obliged the queen-mother 
to join their party. Philip of Spain assisted the latter 
with six thousand men, and Elizabeth of England sent 
as many to the aid of the former. A portion of the 
British forces succeeded in throwing a small re-enforcement 
into Eouen, but the Catholics took it by storm. The Pro- 
testants put their army in motion to protect the British 
at Havre, which brought on the battle at Dreux. The 
field was obstinately contested. The Catholics had the 
credit of victory, yet a singular fact deprived them of its 
benefits. Montmorency was captured by the Protestants, 
Conde by the Catholics. The Protestants soon rallied and 
took some important places in Normandy. The Catholics, 
aiming a mortal blow at their enemies, laid siege to Orleans, 
where Montmorency was a prisoner. The Duke of Guise, 
however, falling by the hand of violence, the movement 
was unsuccessful. Conde and Montmorency, tired of cap- 
tivity, began to think of peace. Conferences were held; a 
general amnesty and toleration settled; offices, civil rights, 
and privileges restored irrespective of religious distinctions; 
peace proclaimed, and the captives set at liberty. This 



198 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIKE AKD PKOPEtECY. 

happy adjustment of affairs was shortly disturbed. The 
Spanish queen and the French king met at Bayonne, where 
they formed the Holy League, as it is denominated, by 
which the destruction of the Protestants in the Low Coun- 
tries, in France, and throughout Europe was resolved upon. 
Civil war again raged. A battle was fought at St. Denis, 
where Montmorency was slain, though the Protestants 
were defeated. Conde, undismayed, collected his forces, 
appeared in the field, laid siege to Chartres, and forced the 
court to an accommodation. The arrangement proving to 
be insincere on the part of the queen-mother, the war was 
renewed with more fury than ever. Battle was joined at 
Jarnac; the Catholics were again successful, Conde made 
prisoner and killed in cold blood. Coligny rallied the 
Protestants, and was defeated at Moncontour with the loss 
of ten thousand men. The Catholics, supposing that the 
means of their adversaries were exhausted, confidently be- 
lieved there was an end of the war. Defeats, however, 
merely rouse the energies of great minds. Coligny was 
dauntless. The Catholics were soon surprised to hear that 
at the head of a great army he was on his march to the 
gates of Paris. The king was in no condition of defence. 
Negotiations ensued ; all past offences pardoned ; Protes- 
tants declared eligible to all offices, civil and military; the 
edicts of toleration renewed; and Eochelle, La Charite, 
Montauban, Cognac ceded to the Huguenots as places of 
refuge and pledges of security. A radical change appeared 
to have been wrought in the royal mind. The Protestant 
leaders were invited to Paris and treated with distinguished 
regard. Charles affected the greatest interest for Elizabeth 
of England, proposing a marriage between her and the 
Duke of Anjou. As if to seal the king's professions of 
friendship by one of the most sacred of all acts, he gave 
his sister in marriage to the young king of Navarre. The 



EMPIRE OF THE FRAtfKS TO ACCESSION OE LOUIS XIV. 199 

principal Protestants, thinking this act would allay all ani- 
mosities, assembled at Paris to participate in the festivities 
of the occasion. A few days after the nuptials Ooligny 
was wounded by a shot from a window. Suspicions were 
quieted by explanations till the eye of St. Bartholomew 
(a.d. 1572), when a massacre of the Protestants com- 
menced.* The king incited the mob. Coligny and near 
five hundred gentlemen of rank were murdered in Paris 
alone, besides ten thousand persons of inferior condition. 
The inhuman butchery spread over the kingdom. Above 
sixty thousand Protestants fell a sacrifice. This deed, at 
the thought of which the heart sickens, was hailed in Spain 
and Kome as the triumph of the Church militant! Eng- 
land and the Protestant powers of Europe were so alarmed 
by these sanguinary measures as to put themselves in a 
condition to protect their civil and religious liberties. 
A similar course was pursued by the Protestants of France. 
Finding their numbers greatly increased, they crowded the 
cities and fortresses. Sancerre, though obliged to surren- 
der after sustaining a gallant defence, obtained liberty of 
conscience for its inhabitants. Eochelle, which in the 
course of eight months repelled nine general and twenty 
particular assaults, compelled the Duke of Anjou, who lost 
twenty-four thousand men in conducting the siege, to grant 
an advantageous peace. 

In the midst of these commotions Charles IX. died 
leaving no male issue, and his brother, the Duke of Anjou, 
succeeded under the title of Henry III. The monarch en- 
deavored to moderate religious hatreds by acting as an 
arbiter between the contending parties, but he eventually 
lost the confidence of all. The Protestants were strength- 

*Kev. xiii. 7. New. Dis., xxiv., v., pp. 501-2. Scott's Com. in 
loc. Chapter V., ante. 



200 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OE EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

ened by the accession of the Duke of Alencon, the arrival 
of a German army under Conde, and the presence of the 
king of Navarre. Further action was restrained by the 
pacific measures of Henry. Peace was settled on the basis 
that the Protestants were to enjoy the public exercise of 
their religion, except within two leagues from court; were 
to have an equal representation in the parliaments: all 
attainders were to be reversed against them; and eight 
cautionary towns were put into their hands. Offended at 
this treaty, Guise laid the foundation of a league which 
again involved France in a protracted civil war. Eventu- 
ally Henry, the last of the line of Valois, was supplanted 
by the arts of Guise; and both having been assassinated, the 
king of Navarre, the first of the Bourbons, assumed the 
crown under the title of Henry IV. The king's attach- 
ment to the Protestants induced one half the royal army to 
desertion. The siege of Paris was abandoned and Henry 
retired to Normandy. The Catholics proclaimed the Car- 
dinal of Bourbon king, under the title of Charles X. In 
this extremity the queen of England assisted Henry with 
men and money, and his prospects brightened in conse- 
quence of securing Caen and Dieppe and repulsing the 
Duke of Mayenne at Arques. Marching immediately to 
Paris, the king would have taken it had not Mayenne en- 
tered it first; as it was, the duke was defeated at Ivry, and 
capital invested. But for Henry's tenderness of human 
life, Paris would have been carried by storm. It was re- 
lieved by the arrival of Spanish troops commanded by the 
Duke of Parma; which event, together with the junction 
of the pope's forces to those of the Duke of Savoy and the 
bull of the former pronouncing Henry a relapsed heretic, 
presented new obstacles in the way of the Protestants. A 
rupture among the Catholics finally brought Henry to the 
throne and gave peace to France. The faction of Sixteen 



EMPIEE OP THE FKANKS TO ACCESSION" OF LOUIS XIV. 201 

who governed Paris, the principal members of which were 
pensioners of Spain, had hanged the president of the par- 
liament for not condemning to death a man obnoxious to 
their displeasure. Mayenne, fearing the power of the fac- 
tion, caused four of them to be executed. Parma pressed 
the calling of the states -general to deliberate on the elec- 
tion of a king. The assembly was convoked. Parma was 
prepared to enter France with a large army in order to en- 
force the interests of Spain, when his death relieved Mayenne 
from a rival, Henry from a foe, and France from becoming 
a province. The states-general met, according to the edict, 
at Paris (a. d. 1593). The pope's legate proposed that they 
should bind themselves never to support Henry, though he 
should abjure Protestantism. The Spanish faction sup- 
ported, but the assembly rejected, the motion. After having 
attempted to gain the Duke of Mayenne by the offer of 
Burgundy and a large sum of money, the ambassador of 
Spain proposed that the states should choose the Infanta 
Eugenia queen, and Albert, the archduke, to whom she was 
to be married, king in her right. Serious opposition aris- 
ing to such settlement, it was finally so modified as to 
provide that the Infanta should marry the Duke of Guise. 
Mayenne, unwilling to become dependent on his nephew, 
called in question the authority of the ambassador. The 
assembly refused to commit the sceptre to the hands of a 
female, it being contrary to the provisions of the Salic 
law. Meantime Henry pushed his military operations with 
great vigor, and the anxiety of the Catholics as to his reli- 
gions views daily increased. Conferences were held between 
the divines of the two forms of religion. Soon afterwards 
Henry abjured the Protestant faith, received absolution 
from the archbishop of Bourges, and was crowned at Char- 
tres (a.d. 1594). A war with Spain restored all the cap- 
tures which had been made by its king during the civil 



202 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

contentions. The Protestants obtained free exercise of 
their religion, a share in the administration of justice, and 
the privilege of every employment of trust, profit, and 
honor, by the Edict of Nantes. The wretched condition to 
which France had been reduced by the protracted civil 
wars was relieved by wholesome reforms; and the national 
revenue was increased, though the taxes were diminished. 
Henry made extensive preparations to assist the Protes- 
tants of Germany, but his assassinatien in the streets of 
Paris deprived them of his presence. 

Louis XIII. , the son of the late monarch, succeeded 
under the regency of Mary, his mother. Sully, the wise 
minister of the former reign, was discarded. Ooncini and 
his wife, Galligai, were possessed of power. Luines ruined 
them, procuring the husband to be shot, the wife to be 
executed. The regent was imprisoned. The new favorite 
contracted the insolence and heired the disgrace of his 
fallen rivals. A civil war ensued which resulted in the 
confirmation of the Edict of Nantes. Cardinal Eichelieu, 
who had risen to notice by an opposition to the Luines and 
an adherence to the queen-mother, becoming the king's 
favorite, soon governed his councils. Three objects mark 
this administration: the humiliation of the nobility, the 
ruin of the Protestants, and the reduction of the power 
of Austria. On the death of the king, his minor son, 
Louis XIV., succeeded. Cardinal Mazarin assumed the 
administration of government. The changes and conflicts 
incident to a regency succeeded. The minister and his 
rival, the Prince of Conde, were alternately elevated and 
overthrown, and France rent by contention and war. 
Peace was restored by the king's arrival at age, and the 
war with Spain was terminated by the treaty of the 
Pyrenees, which extended the boundaries of his kingdom 
in the north to Gravelines, in the southeast to Pignerol, 



EMPIRE OP THE PRANKS TO EXECUTION OP LOUIS XYI. 203 

and in the southwest to Koussillon, and brought him the 
Infanta as a wife. These fortunate eyents made Louis 
XIV. the most ambitious monarch of the age. 



CHAPTEE XIII. 

THE NEUSTRIAN DIVISION OF THE EMPIRE OP THE 
PRANKS TO THE EXECUTION OP LOUIS XVI. 

The avarice of Louis XIV. was equal to his ambition. 
On the death of his father-in-law, Philip IV. of Spain, he 
laid claim to Brabant, and would have captured all the 
dominions of that kingdom in the Netherlands had not 
England, Holland, and Sweden arrested his progress.* In- 
tent upon the United Provinces, the French sovereign soon 
afterwards managed to unite his arms with those of England 
in a war against them. The cupidity of Louis, however, 
missed the prize in consequence of peace being procured 
by the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. England being united 
to his interests, Louis renewed the war ; yet the Dutch, 
aided by the emperor and Spain, were able to terminate 
difficulties by the treaty of Nimeguen. The terms of this 
instrument were that Louis should retain Franche 
Compte, Oambray, Aire, St. Omer, Valenciennes, Tour- 
nay, Ypres, Bouchain, Cassel, and Oharlemont ; that 
Maestricht should be returned to the states ; that Spain 
should be put in possession of Charleroy, Oudenarde, 
Aeth, Ghent, and Limbourg; that the Elector of Bran- 
denburg should return to Sweden his conquest in Pome- 

*Lr., Vol. II., ch. iv.-ix. Russell's Mod. Europe, Vols. III.-VI. 
Voltaire's War of 1741. 



204 OUTLINE EVOLUTION" OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

rania; and that the treaty of Westphalia (Oh. XVI.) should 
remain in full force over Germany and the North. The 
ambition of the French king was rather increased than 
diminished by this settlement. A standing army was re- 
tained, arbitrary tribunals for uniting to the crown such 
territories as had depended on the late conquests were 
established, troops introduced into Strasburg, the Protes- 
tants oppressed by harsh laws as well as by the revocation 
of the Edict of Nantes (a.d. 1686), and the pope offended 
by a refusal to grant his reasonable request. Spain, Hol- 
land, Denmark, Sweden, Savoy, and England united to 
humble the pride of Louis. France marshalled an army 
of four hundred thousand men, overwhelmed the Palati- 
nate, but sustained a defeat at Walcourt. Its ally, the 
Porte, shared a similar defeat at Nissa and Widin. For- 
tune, however, soon smiled on both. The French swept 
all before them in Italy ; their fleet defeated the combined 
powers of England and Holland at Beachy Head, while 
the Turks made great progress in Hungary. Nothing is 
more fluctuating than the events of war. A subsequent 
campaign checked this prosperity both in Italy and on the 
Save. Louis nevertheless regained his glory by the vic- 
tories of Steinkirk, Neerwinden, Heidelburg, Marsalgia, 
Roses, and the capture of four hundred merchantmen, 
Dutch and English, known as the Smyrna fleet. Famine 
produced great distress among the French populace, and 
death deprived their sovereign of Louvois, his minister, and 
Luxembourg, his general. Most parties became tired of the 
war, and it terminated by the treaty of Eyswick (a.d. 1697), 
which left the Bourbon succession to the Spanish throne 
in full force; provided that William of Orange should be 
acknowledged by Louis as the lawful sovereign of Britain 
and Ireland ; secured the duchy of Luxemburg, Chiney, 
Charleroy, Mons, Aeth, Oourtnay, and all places united 



EMPIRE OF THE FRANKS TO EXECUTION OF LOUIS XVI. 205 

to France by the chambers of Metz and Brisac, as well as 
Catalonia, to Spain; and restored Friburg, Brisgaw and 
Philipsbnrg to the emperor, Lorraine and Bar to their 
native prince. In order to sustain the succession of his 
grandson, Philip V., to the throne of Spain, Louis was 
soon involved in another tedious war against England, the 
emperor, and the United Provinces. The French and 
Spanish compelled the imperialists to raise the blockade 
of Mantua, but they were defeated at Fridlingen. The 
imperialists were overthrown at Passau and Hochstet. A 
total defeat befell Louis' forces at Blenheim, and the 
English wrested Gibraltar from Spain and cut off the 
French fleet near Malaga. The south of France was dis- 
turbed by civil commotion. The allies penetrated Spain, 
took Barcelona, Valencia, and Catalonia. Greater part of 
Spanish Flanders fell into the hands of the confederates in 
consequence of the victory of the Duke of Marlborough at 
Eamillies. In Spain and Italy Louis was equally unsuc- 
cessful, and the English fleet snatched from him Majorca 
and Ivica. Unfortunate in every quarter, and failing to 
procure aid from Sweden, the monarch of France sought 
peace in vain from the confederates. A last effort was 
made, in which the French were overcome at Oudenarde 
and Malplaquet. Eeverses in Spain and Alsace inclined 
the allies to peace; but success following in Spain and 
Flanders, they terminated the conferences. Internal di- 
visions effect what external foes never can accomplish. 
Discord entered the ranks of the allies; and although they 
were at the gates of Paris, Louis obtained peace (a.d. 1713). 
Treaties between France, England, Portugal, Prussia, 
Savoy, and the Provinces were signed at Utrecht. The 
articles provided for a distinct succession to the crown 
of Spain from that of the throne of France; for the 
cession of Sicily to the Duke of Savoy, for the cession to him 



206 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIKE AND PROPHECY. 

of the valleys of Pragelas, Oulx, Sezanne, Bardonneche, 
Chateau Dauphin, the ports of Exilles and Fenestrelle, 
and the restoration to him of Savoy and the county of 
Nice, with their dependencies; for the navigation of the 
river Amazon in South America to the king of Portugal; 
for the cession of Spanish Guelclerland, Neufchatel, and 
Yalengin to the king of Prussia, in exchange for Orange, 
Chalons, Chatelbelin, and Burgundy, and his regal title to 
be acknowledged; for the Khine being the boundary be- 
tween France and Germany; and for all the fortifications 
beyond claimed by France being relinquished to the 
emperor or destroyed; for the cession in Italy of Naples, 
Milan, and the Spanish possessions on the Tuscan shore to 
Austria, as well as the Spanish Netherlands, but that the 
Elector of Bavaria retain all in his possession until rein- 
stated in his German dominions, except the Upper Palati- 
nate, and also be put in possession of Sardinia, with the title 
of king; for the donation of Luxemburg, Namur, Charleroy, 
Mons, Menin, and Tournay to the United Provinces; for 
the restoration to France of Lisle, Aire, Bethune, and 
St. Venant; for the acknowledgment on the part of 
France of the title of Queen Anne and the Hanoverian 
succession; for the destruction of Dunkirk; for the prop- 
erty of England to St. Christopher's, Hudson's Bay and 
Straits, the town of Placentia in Newfoundland, and Nova 
Scotia in North America; for the possession of the British 
to Minorca and Gibraltar, and for their right to furnish 
for thirty years all the negroes to South America. The 
emperor persisted in hostilities, but his efforts proving 
hopeless, the next year the treaty of Eastadt followed, by 
which he lost many fortresses beyond the Khine, and the 
king of France got the Electors of Bavaria and Cologne 
established in their dignities; the former relinquishing 
Sardinia to the emperor for the Upper Palatinate, and the 



EMPIRE OF THE FRANKS TO EXECUTION OF LOUIS XYI. 207 

king of France acknowledging the electoral rights of the 
Duke of Hanover; while Italy and the Low Countries were 
to remain on the footing of the treaty of Utrecht. Shortly 
afterwards died Louis XIV., leaving his grandson, Louis 
XV., a minor. The Duke of Orleans was appointed regent. 
The distracted condition of the finances gave ample 
scope for the scheme of John Law, a Scotch adventurer. 
A bank was established under the patronage of govern- 
ment, the credit of which rested entirely upon the antici- 
pation of inexhaustible wealth from the commerce of Mis- 
sissippi, China, and Senegal. Upon the detection of the 
fraud the institution lost public confidence, France was 
compelled to redeem its notes, and Law made his escape. 
The attempt of the emperor to dethrone the king of Po- 
land, the father-in-law of Louis XV., brought on a war, 
which was concluded by the Polish king renouncing his 
claims for the duchy of Lorraine; the duke of which took 
Tuscany and an annuity from Louis of three million five 
hundred thousand livres till the death of the last prince 
of the house of Medicis; the emperor acknowledging the 
king of the two Sicilies and receiving for them Parma and 
Placentia, and ceding to the king of Sardinia the Novarese, 
the Tortonese, and the fiefs of Langes, and taking in re- 
turn from Louis the French conquests in Germany, and a 
guarantee of the pragmatic sanction or the domestic law, 
by which the succession of Austria was secured to the heirs 
female of Charles VI. if he should die without male issue. 
Contrary to this law, Louis resolved to support the preten- 
sions of the Elector of Bavaria to the kingdom of Bohemia 
and the imperial crown, and concluded a treaty with him 
and the king of Prussia for this purpose, as well as a divi- 
sion of the Austrian dominions. The French army, com- 
manded by Bellisle and Broglio, entered Germany, reduced 
Lintz, took Prague, crowned the elector king of Bohemia, 



208 OUTLIKE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

and proceeded to Frankfort, where he was elected em- 
peror under the name of Charles VII. The battle of Czas- 
law might haye proved fatal to the Austrians had they not 
detached the king of Prussia from the French interest by 
conferring upon him Silesia and the county of Glatz. All 
the posts from the Danube to the Rhine were wrested from 
the French, and to crown their misfortunes they were 
beaten at Dettingen. Austria strengthened by an English, 
and France by a Spanish alliance, made vast preparations 
for prosecuting the war. Louis and his ally, attempting to 
regain the sovereignty of the Mediterranean, sustained an 
overthrow at the bay of Hieres. Though better success 
attended them in Italy, they were convinced of their in- 
competency to cope with their foes, and obtained assistance 
from Sweden and Prussia. Louis made great progress in 
Flanders, and entered Dunkirk in triumph. Charles VII. 
dying, his son declined the succession. Determined to 
cripple Austria, France, however, continued the war. De- 
spite the successes of their enemies at Fontenoy and in 
Flanders, the electors met at Frankfort and chose the 
archduke emperor, entitled Francis I. The king of Prus- 
sia was detached from the alliance by the treaty of Dres- 
den, which secured to him the payment of one million of 
German crowns upon the evacuation of his hereditary 
dominions, as also the confirmation of the treaty of Bres- 
lau, which gave him Silesia. This event did not dis- 
hearten the French, who made rapid progress in Flanders, 
and, though not as fortunate in Italy and at Cape Breton, 
eventually by the victory of Val secured the navigation of 
ihe Scheldt. The treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle put an end to 
the war by confirming all treaties from that of Westphalia, 
and providing for a mutual restitution of all conquests 
from the beginning of hostilities, and a release of prisoners 
without ransom (a.d. 1748). 



EMPIKE OF THE FEA^KS TO EXECUTION OF LOUIS XYI. 209 

France attempted an extension of power in America and 
India. Lonis supposed it would be possible for hini by 
connecting his settlements on the north in Canada and 
at the south in Louisiana by a line of forts to force the 
English colonists west of the Alleghanies, if not to subject 
them entirely to his sway. The scheme was checked at 
the outset by Washington on the Ohio, though the British 
commander, Braddock, through his own imprudence, was 
some time afterwards not as successful in the neighborhood 
of Pittsburg. Misfortune attended the French arms on 
Lake George, where Dieskau, their general, was mortally 
wounded and captured. Alliances having been formed 
with Eussia, Sweden, and Austria, France commenced 
vigorous operations. In Europe, Hanover fell into its 
hands; in America the great lakes were mastered; but 
conquered at the battle of Eosbach, it was driven from the 
former, and, losing Louisburg, it was eventually deprived 
of the latter. An effort to regain Hanover was frustrated 
by the victory of Prince Ferdinand at Minden. The cap- 
ture of Vandivash and the conquest of Surat ruined the 
cause of France in India. An attempt to invade England 
and Ireland destroyed the fleet of Louis. This long and 
bloody struggle was settled by the treaty of Paris (a.d. 
1763), which stipulated that France should cede to Great 
Britain all her former possessions in North America 
except New Orleans, together with that part of Louisiana 
which lies on the west side of the Mississippi; that the 
French should be permitted to fish on the banks of New- 
foundland, having the islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon 
for the benefit of their fisheries, not being permitted to 
build forts thereon; that Spain shall relinquish her right 
to fish on the banks of Newfoundland, permit the English 
logwood-cutters to build houses in the Bay of Honduras, 
surrender what she may have taken belonging to Portugal, 



210 OUTLINE EVOLUTION" OF EMPIRE AND PEOPHECY. 

and cede Florida to England, for which she was to have 
Havana and all Cuba conquered by the British; that Mi- 
norca shall be restored to England; Martinique, Guadalupe, 
Goree, and Bellisle to France; and that France shall cede 
to England the forts and factories lost on the river Sene- 
gal, the island Granada, and the Granadieres, giving up all 
claim to the neutral islands St. Vincent, Dominica, and 
Tobago. 

France, delivered from external difficulties, fell a prey to 
internal discord. Louis directed the continuance of sev- 
eral imposts which, when created, were to be confined to 
the duration of the war, and also demanded new contribu- 
tions. The parliament of Paris remonstrated. Many of 
the provincial towns joined in similar appeals to the throne. 
The assembly of Eouen assumed the position that the 
people of Normandy were not subject to any tax unless 
imposed by the three estates. In Languedoc the opposition 
to these royal exactions ran so high that some members of 
the parliament of Toulouse suffered severe restriction of 
their personal liberty from the governor of that province. 
This act incensed that body to such a degree that they 
passed a vote authorizing his imprisonment. The people 
sided with the remonstrant members, and Ohoiseul, the 
chief minister, secretly supported them, in order to awe his 
sovereign into subserviency to the house of Austria. The 
bankruptcy of the East India Company, the consequent 
private failures, the prodigality of the court, and the decay 
of trade reduced the kingdom to a calamitous condition. 
Louis, instead of making an effort to rescue the nation 
from impending ills, yielded himself up entirely to the 
pursuit of his amorous gratifications, even permitting his 
mistress, Madame du Barry, to influence his councils. 
Choiseul, either from interest or pride, would not court the 
favor of the lady. The chancellor Maupeou and the Duke 



EMPIRE OF THE FRANKS TO EXECUTION OF LOUIS XVI. 211 

d'Aiguillon, considering it a good opportunity to supplant 
their benefactor, sought her smile. The duke was shortly 
afterwards removed from the government of Bretagne in 
consequence of maladministration. Choiseul confirmed his 
authority by bringing about a marriage between the son 
of the deceased dauphin, Louis, and Marie Antoinette, 
daughter of the empress-dowager of Austria. After this 
event the king annulled the proceedings against D'Aiguil- 
lon, governor of Bretagne. The parliament of Paris sus- 
pended the duke from the peerage. The king cancelled 
the proceedings. Choiseul was dismissed and recalled. An 
edict for rendering the courts subservient to the king's will 
was opposed by the parliament, a bed of justice held, and 
the peers refusing to act while D'Aiguillon sat among them, 
the king commanded them to proceed. Choiseul was dis- 
missed; the peers persisting in their refusal, the king de- 
prived them of .their employments and banished them to 
different parts of the country. Three edicts were promul- 
gated: one abolished the former parliament; one suppressed 
the Court of Aids; one formed a new parliament, consist- 
ing of seventy members nominated and pensioned by the 
sovereign. Six provincial councils were created, which were 
to be held at Arras, Blois, Chalons, Clermont, Lyons, and 
Poictiers. Aiguillon was appointed secretary for the for- 
eign department. The court was brought completely un- 
der the influence of that nobleman and the Countess du 
Barry, than whom none could be more exceptionable. 
Discontent spread over France, rebellion broke out in 
Sicily. The death of Louis XV. brought his grandson 
Louis XVI. to the throne. 

The first acts of Louis XVI. were to revoke the Six Coun- 
cils and recall the magistracy. But the popularity ac- 
quired by these acts was impaired by the " regulations of dis- 
cipline," which gave the great chamber the exclusive power 



212 OUTLIKE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PK0PHECY. 

of registration, made the president despotic, checked the 
falsity of remonstrance, and multiplied the grounds of re- 
moval and confiscation of which a new court was to take 
cognizance. National disgust was somewhat allayed by the 
determination of the court to engage in favor of the Amer- 
ican colonies against England, but the measures of the 
minister Oallone counteracted this auspicious state of af- 
fairs. Insisting upon a tax on the nobles and clergy, 
hitherto unburdened by public expenses, he advised that 
the notables, a body selected from the privileged orders, 
should be assembled. Upon the meeting of the assembly, 
Callone stated to them that the revenues of the government 
were insufficient for its support, and suggested a mode of 
supplying the deficit by levying a land-tax and imposing 
new duties. Necker's party charged the minister with 
mismanagement. The notables required exact accounts; 
Louis banished Necker; dismissed Callone; and appointed 
as his successor De Brienne, archbishop of Toulouse. En- 
deavoring to procure the assent of the notables to the 
land-tax and stamp-duties, but not succeeding, the minister 
advised their dissolution, and his measures were proclaimed 
in the form of edicts. The parliament refused registration 
until the accounts demanded by the notables were fur- 
nished. Intimidation and the dismission of Lamoignon, 
who had become unpopular with the court by advocating 
the simplification of legal proceedings, procured assent to 
the collection of two twentieths of the tax. 

The mode of collecting the new revenue now became a 
subject of dispute.* Parliament desired it to remain on 
the old basis, which favored the privileged orders ; the 
minister wished an inquiry into the exact amount of 

*Lr., Vol. II. ch. x., xi. ; Vol. III. ch. i.-xi. Mod. Eu., Vol. VI. 
p. 205. 



EMPIKE OF THE FRANKS TO EXECUTION OF LOUIS XYI. 213 

property, and that the provinces should compound for the 
impost. The promise of the king to collect the two 
twentieths in the established mode quieted the controversy. 
Nobles, parliament, and clergy demanded a meeting of the 
states-general. The minister, desirous to negotiate a loan, 
consented to convoke the states of the realm. A royal 
sitting was proclaimed, which was so stormy that some of 
the members were imprisoned for the freedom of their 
remarks. Other parliaments united with that of Paris 
against the court. The minister attempted to strengthen 
his power by forming bailiwicks to diminish the authority 
of the parliaments, and plenary courts to consist of persons 
chosen by the king. The capital became a scene of com- 
motion, and the provinces of organized opposition to the 
court. Brienne left the cabinet. Necker was recalled. 
The parliaments were restored to their authority, the laws 
to their accustomed operation, and financial affairs assumed 
a solid basis. Louis, thinking to render himself still more 
popular, agitated the calling of the states- general. The 
constitution of this assembly created controversy. Parlia- 
ment insisted upon an adherence to the plan of 1614. 
Necker suggested a popular representation at least equal 
to the aggregate amount of ecclesiastical and noble deputies. 
The notables were again assembled, in order to settle the 
matter. Notwithstanding their rejection of the minister's 
plan, the court determined that the third estate should be 
equal to the nobles and clergy combined. 

The states-general met at Versailles (a.d. 1789), were 
opened by a speech from the king, Necker, and the keeper 
of the seal. Louis enlarged on the propriety of settling 
the finances and quieting the distractions of the com- 
munity. Necker agitated the question as to the manner 
of voting, proposing that in cases which required joint 
action they should so consult. The commons peremptorily 



214 OUTLIKE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

insisted upon the verification of powers being joint. The 
nobles disregarded this requisition. Some of the clergy 
joined the third estate. The ascertainment of powers 
being completed, the commons assumed the title of the 
National Assembly, resolving that the absence of deputies 
and even classes ought not to preclude the members from 
exercising all their rights. Louis, disapproving this 
course, proclaimed a royal sitting, which was to take place 
in the hall of the states. Bailly, president of the commons, 
demanded admission; but the guard refusing to allow it, 
about two thirds of that body met in a tennis-court room, 
where they bound themselves by oath not to separate 
finally till they had effected political regeneration. A 
governmental scheme combining popular liberty with 
monarchical power was presented to the king. Louis 
insisted on the distinction of the three orders, and annulled 
the vote of the commons. Nothing daunted, that body 
adhered to their position and resolved that the persons of 
the deputies were inviolable. The clergy on the next day 
discussed the question of joining the commons. One hun- 
dred and forty-two members out of two hundred and 
ninety-four voted for the union, nine remaining silent. 
The junction was effected by bringing over the silent mem- 
bers. A small portion of the nobles, headed by the Duke 
of Orleans, joining the commons and clergy, raised the 
popular feeling to such a pitch as to compel the king to 
direct the whole order to follow their fellows. The advance 
of several regiments to the neighborhood of Versailles was 
authorized by the crown. Mirabeau called the attention of 
the assembly to the event. Louis was desired to cause the 
removal of the troops. The action of the assembly was 
not only disregarded, but Necker, suspected of colluding 
with them, was discharged. The military thus arrayed by 
royal authority against the populace, scenes of violence en- 



EMPIRE OF THE FRANKS TO EXECUTION OF LOUIS XYI. 215 

sued, in one of which the Bastile was demolished at Paris. 
The king, yielding to the torrent, withdrew the troops from 
the capital and courted the protection of the assembly. 
La Fayette was appointed to the command of the Parisian 
militia; Neckerwas recalled; Louis with a train of deputies 
visited Paris and was presented by the new mayor with the 
keys of the city. The king consenting, the assembly 
modified the privileges of nobility and clergy, towns and 
provinces. Men and women presented themselves at the 
bar of the assembly begging bread. A riot having for its 
object the king's person induced his removal to Paris. 
The assembly followed. Talleyrand, archbishop of Autun, 
procured the seizure of church -lands, an allowance being- 
secured to sufferers; provincial assemblies were suppressed ; 
courts of justice rendered inactive ; assign ast substituted 
for money; oppressive taxes abolished; monopolies annulled; 
and a new form was given to municipal corporations. 
Popular commotions, attended by riot, bloodshed, and de- 
struction of property, prevailed throughout the capital. 

On the anniversary of the revolution, Louis bound him- 
self by oath to sustain the new constitution, and a similar 
sanction united all classes in its support. Peace might now 
have been restored but for the intrigues of the Jacobins 
and the arts of the Duke of Orleans. Necker lost his in- 
fluence, resigned his place, and returned to Switzerland, 
his native country. The clergy, disgusted at the disposal 
of their benefices, refused acquiescence; the assembly 
sought in vain to enforce compliance on the mass of them 
by inflicting new penalties. Mirabeau, the president of 
the assembly, gained over by the court, endeavored to 
procure a dissolution of the body; but failing in this at- 
tempt, he advised the king to remove to a more tranquil 
place than Paris. After the death of this adviser, Louis 
again fell a prey to rash counsels. Conferences were held 



216 OUTLINE EVOLUTION" OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

at Mantua with the emperor. It was concluded to put in 
motion an army sufficiently large to intimidate the assembly. 
The royal family left Paris for Montmedy, but were arrested 
in their course. The code providing for the sovereignty of 
the people in the choice of their own officers and representa- 
tives, limiting the power of the crown, securing the gratui- 
tous administration of justice, was completed by the 
assembly, approved by the king, and that body dissolved. 
On the opening of a new legislature, the monarch recom- 
mended to their consideration the state of the army, pub- 
lic credit, general justice, and national education. A new 
cabinet was formed; but on the king refusing his assent to 
the ordinances, inflicting transportation on ecclesiastical 
nonjurors, and authorizing the encampment of twenty 
thousand men near Paris, it fell to pieces. War was de- 
clared against Austria. The command of the army was 
devolved on La Fayette. Violence prevailed in the capital; 
the king and his family became its victims; the Jacobins 
reigned in triumph; royalty was abolished. After an 
indecisive battle the Austrians withdrew from France. 
The brilliant successes of the army in the Netherlands, 
Savoy, and Germany emboldened the convention to pro- 
ceed to ulterior measures against Louis, whose execution 
followed within twenty-four hours (January 21, 1793) 
after his condemnation. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

THE NEUSTRIAN DIVISION OF THE EMPIRE OF THE FRANKS 
TO THE DOWNFALL OF LOUIS NAPOLEON BONAPARTE AS 
EMPEROR. 

France declared war against England, Holland, and 
Spain. Before such a strong array the generals of the con- 



EMPIRE OF THE FRANKS TO FALL OF KAPOLEOK III. 217 

vention were worsted at Aix-la-Chapelle, Winden, Pellen- 
berg, Vicogne, Famar's and Landau. Hoche, a youth of 
twenty-five years of age, succeeding to the command which 
Dumouriez, Dampierre, and Oustine had in turn held dur- 
ing the recent calamities, drove back the allies within the 
imperial boundaries. The Jacobins gained the ascendency 
in the convention over the Girondists, imprisoning many 
and threatening the infliction of capital punishments. 
These movements were followed by open opposition in 
La Vendee, Marseilles, Lyons, and Mende. The first was re- 
duced with great slaughter. The last felt the full measure of 
Jacobinical vengeance. The guillotine, which was drenched 
with human blood at Lyons, was not idle under the eye of 
Eobespierre at Paris. The queen was despatched upon it. 
Brissot and Bailly, Le Brun and the Duke of Orleans, with 
a host beside, suffered the same fate. The tyranny of the 
times was not limited to political causes. Religion was 
denounced, apostasy encouraged, death declared to be an 
eternal sleep, the wicked taught no longer to fear the judg- 
ment of another world, the good no longer to cherish hopes 
of a blissful immortality. 

The English taking advantage of the disaffection of Tou- 
lon, seized and strongly fortified it. Dugommier, conduct- 
ing the siege on the part of the convention, was assisted 
by Napoleon Bonaparte, a young Oorsican who now first 
appeared in public life. Notwithstanding the success of 
the allies in the commencement of their movements, the 
French armies, under Pichegru and Jourdain, eventually 
took most of West Flanders and triumphed in Germany. 
In the midst of these operations Jacobinical sway was un- 
dermined. Eobespierre fell by the same means which he 
had practised so successfully in the destruction of others. 
The pride of France was humbled by a series of decisive 
naval victories obtained on its western coast over its fleet 



218 OUTLIKE EVOLUTION" OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

by the British. Peace was concluded with Prussia, by which 
the French obtained a part of the duchy of Cleves. The 
fall of the Jacobins was followed by the accession of the 
Girondists to their seats in the convention. Prance re- 
ceived a new constitution. The executive power was 
lodged with five directors. The legislative power was re- 
posed in two bodies, one consisting of five hundred, the 
other of two hundred and fifty members. Pour parties ex- 
isted: the friends of the new constitution and of the code 
of 1793 ; the royalists and the semi-royalists. The defeat of 
Jourdain and the retreat of Moreau in Germany filled the 
nation with gloom: the success of Bonaparte in reducing 
the Milanese, dispossessing the English of Corsica, and com- 
pelling the king of Sardinia to quit the confederacy in- 
spired it with joy. Daring the succeeding year this illus- 
trious hero forced the pope to cede Bologna, Komagna, 
Perrara, to pay over twenty-one millions of livres ; proceed- 
ed into the hereditary dominions of the emperor, took 
Gradisca, obtained possession of the greater part of the 
Tyrol, and procured articles of peace between Prance and 
Austria at Leobin. Meantime, Hoche and Moreau gained 
much glory and conquest on the Khine. The treaty of 
Oampo Pormio followed the preliminaries of Leobin. This 
instrument extended the boundaries of Prance to the Khine, 
giving it Corfu, the neighboring islands, the Albanian es- 
tablishments below the Gulf of Lodrino and the Nether- 
lands ; secured to the emperor the Venetian capital, and 
to the Duke of Modena, Brisgaw. Geneva was united to 
Prance, the insurgent Swiss cantons reduced, Malta sub- 
dued. The master-spirit of these movements was Bona- 
parte, whose ambition now induced him to seek nobler 
spoils in the execution of a project to enter the British 
Indies through the Persian territory.* Arriving in Egypt, 

*Tli. Rev., Vol. IV. p. 356. 



EMPIRE OF THE FRANKS TO FALL OF NAPOLEOH III. 219 

he effected repeated conquests, but his glory was eclipsed 
by the loss of his fleet in the Bay of Aboukir by the Brit- 
ish under the command of Nelson. Encouraged by this 
success, the English formed an alliance with the Eussians, 
the emperor, the king of Naples, and the Turks, which 
was fatal to the French at Oassano and Magnano, at Treb- 
bia and Novi. Though France was able to retain Switzer- 
land, it lost Germany by the battle of Stockach. 

The divisions of the directory, the financial embarrass- 
ments they had created, their severe laws against the rela- 
tives and friends of the Vendeans, as well as their military 
miscarriages, rendered certain their downfall. Sieyes, one 
of their number, held conferences with Talleyrand and 
others, where it was concluded that a consulates hould be 
formed, with a man of great military talents at its head. 
As a preliminary of the plan, Napoleon Bonaparte was pro- 
posed for the chief of the military in the capital, to which 
the Ancients consented. In the succeeding commotions, 
the directors resigned. Napoleon insisted upon an im- 
mediate change for the benefit of the republic ; but being 
opposed in the Council of Five Hundred, he supported his 
demand by a display of military force and cleared the hall 
of the members. A provisional government was created 
with Napoleon at its head. A constitution was finally 
proclaimed, which established a consulate, a tribunate of 
one hundred members, a legislative body of three hundred, 
a senate of eighty, and a council of state consisting of five. 
Napoleon and Cambaceres were chosen consuls for ten 
years, and Le Brun for five. Overtures of peace were made 
to England, which being rejected, the war was continued. 
Successful at Montabello, Marengo, and Hohenlinden, the 
republic obtained the treaty of Luneville, by which the 
emperor made additional grants to the cessions of the 
former pacification and yielded the Tuscan duchy to the 



220 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIKE AND PKOPHECY. 

Duke of Parma. The British, though deprived of an ally, 
pressed the war and reduced Malta, Cairo, and Alexandria. 
Peace, however, soon followed, and the treaty of Amiens was 
signed (a.d. 1802), by which, of all his conquests during the 
war, his Britannic majesty only retained Ceylon and Trini- 
dad, and his ally, the queen of Portugal, lost Olivenza and 
a part of Guiana ; Corfu and the other Venetian islands 
were constituted a republic, and Malta restored to its for- 
mer possessors. Thus Prance now had the Netherlands, a 
portion of Germany, Geneva, Savoy, Piedmont ; Spain was 
a degraded ally, the cisalpine state was under its yoke ; 
Tuscany was virtually a province, and the Ligurian repub- 
lic was its mere creature. The internal condition of the 
nation engaged the attention of the consul. A reconcili- 
ation was effected with the pope, and Catholicism estab- 
lished, subject to the supervision of ten prelates and fifty 
bishops. The acts against emigrants were relaxed ; the ar- 
dor for military distinction promoted by the creation of the 
Legion of Honor ; the cause of education advanced by the 
establishment of schools in every branch of science ; and the 
jurisprudence of the kingdom promoted by the adoption of 
a new code of laws. A vote of the people extended the 
power of Napoleon to the term of his life, and a new con- 
stitutional provision rendered him in reality a monarch.* 

Misunderstandings arose between Prance and England. 
Napoleon complained that England favored the Bourbons 
and allowed its press to treat him in an improper manner. 
The British denied these charges, retorting on the consul 
that he permitted his own press to traduce their govern- 
ment. Napoleon's interference in Swiss affairs became the 
absorbing charge against him in England while the French 
were loud in their declamation of the English on account 

*Th. Con. and Em., Bk. XVI. 



EMPIEE OF THE FKANKS TO FALL OF NAPOLEOK III. 221 

of not having surrendered Malta and Egypt pursuant to 
the convention at Amiens. An open rupture ensued. 
Hanover fell a prey to the French; in their turn they lost 
many possessions in the East and West. Preparations for 
the invasion of England were made upon the most extrava- 
gant scale. The threatening aspect of continental affairs 
prevented this occurrence. Foreign and domestic conten- 
tions, arising out of the plots of the Bourbons against the 
life of Napoleon and his retaliatory measure in the execu- 
tion of the Due d'Enghien, one of their blood, induced the 
senate to declare Napoleon hereditary emperor; upon the 
acceptance of which six new appointments were made: 
grand elector, constable, arch- chancellors, arch- treasurer, 
high admiral. The most distinguished generals were created 
marshals. An unsuccessful proposition of peace with Eng- 
land followed. The assumption of the kingship of Italy 
by Napoleon matured the ill feeling already existing into a 
coalition between England and the continental powers. 
Nelson's victory over the combined fleets of France and 
Spain at Trafalgar would have deeply affected the emperor 
had not the exploits of the army afforded abundant cause 
of exultation. Gaining an advantage over the advance of 
the Austrian army, the emperor came up to the main body 
under General Mack at Ulm. Mack agreed to surrender 
in eight days if he received no Eussian re-enforcements; but 
loosing all hope, he only held out three. Napoleon hastened 
towards Vienna, and refusing the emperor Francis an 
armistice, soon had possession of that capital. In Italy his 
forces were equally as fortunate; and appearing at Auster- 
litz, he obtained a complete victory over the combined 
powers of Austria and Eussia. The treaty of Presburg 
followed, by which Francis relinquished his interest in 
Venice; acknowledged the title of Napoleon as king of 
Italy, provided the crown should be kept separate from that 



222 OUTLINE EVOLUTION" OF EMPIEE AND PROPHECY. 

of France; ceded Burgau, Eichstadt, Tirol, to the Elector of 
Bavaria, and resigned a part of Burgau to the Elector of 
Wirtemberg; the remainder, with Ortenau and the city of 
Constance, to the Elector of Baden. Joseph Bonaparte, 
brother to the emperor, took Naples and became its king. 
The seizure of the Ragusan territory, on the opposite side 
of the Adriatic, soon followed. Louis, another brother of 
the emperor, was crowned king of Holland. Many of the 
states of Germany were created into a new power, denomi- 
nated the confederacy of the Rhine.* This act rent asunder 
the amicable relations which had existed between the king 
of Prussia and the emperor, while differences as to the 
possession of Sicily placed both England and Russia among 
his enemies. 

Success still attended the emperor of the French in every 
step. Triumphant at Jena, mastering Berlin, the Hanoverian 
territories, the Silesian province, he repelled the Russians at 
Pultush and Golomyn. f At Berlin a decree was published 
which declared the British Islands in a state of blockade and 
prohibited all commerce with them (a.d. 1807). Successful 
at Eylau, the emperor laid siege to Dantzic, which surren- 
dered. Battle was joined at Friedland, where the French 
were victorious. The surrender of Konigsburg was the 
result of this triumph. An armistice was granted to the 
Russian general at Tilsit. Napoleon and Alexander held 
a conference on a raft in the Niemen. A treaty was signed 
soon after, in which Alexander agreed to the spoliation of 
his Prussian ally, the erection of the kingdom of West- 
phalia, the increase of the territories of the Elector of 
Saxony; acknowledged the Confederation of the Rhine, the 
royal titles of Joseph and Louis Bonaparte; promised to 

* Al. Eu„ cli. xlii. Th. Con. and Em., Bk. XXIV. 
f Th. Con. and Em., Bk. XXYII, 



EMPIRE OF THE FRANKS TO FALL OF NAPOLEON III. 223 

withdraw his troops from Moldavia, and to accept the 
mediation of France to effect peace with the Grand Seignior. 
The Prussian monarch procured peace on the deprivation 
of more than one third of the provinces between the Elbe 
and the Khine, which, together with Hanover, Brunswick, 
and Hesse-Cassel, were assigned to Jerome, the brother of 
Napoleon, created king of Westphalia. The Elector of 
Saxony got the greater part of Prussian Poland, was titled 
Duke of Warsaw, and the city of Dantzic was restored to 
nominal independence under the king of Prussia. Portugal 
refusing to comply with the requirements of the Berlin 
decree, and abandoned by its king, was seized by Junot, 
the French general. Napoleon, by intrigue and intimida- 
tion, procured the resignation of the king of Spain and the 
election of his brother Joseph to his crown. The Spaniards, 
indignant at the usurpation, resisted the French, succeeded 
in capturing their fleet at Cadiz, and in gaining some ad- 
vantages over their forces. Joseph withdrew from Madrid. 
The Portuguese were roused to action by the success of the 
Spaniards, and, assisted by the English commander, Sir 
Arthur Wellesley, were victorious in the battle of Vimiero. 
Napoleon was not dispirited. Several severe conflicts en- 
sued; his troops reduced, Madrid and Joseph returned. 
Saragossa still held out, but it was finally taken by the 
French, who pushed their advantages into Portugal. 

The conduct of the French emperor towards Spain and 
Portugal induced the Austrian powers to invade Bavaria. 
Napoleon, prompt to repel the attack, seized Vienna, 
suffered loss at Aspern and Esling, but was triumphant at 
Wagram. Peace was restored by the treaty of Vienna, 
which ceded to Napoleon Goritz, Carinola, the city of 
Trieste, all the Austrian dominions on the right bank of 
the Save; to the Confederacy in Germany, Saltzburg, a 
portion of Upper Austria; to Bohemia, West Galicia; to 



224 OUTLINE EVOLUTION' OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

Eussia, East Galicia ; and guaranteed the acknowledgment 
of Joseph Bonaparte as king of Spain. Notwithstanding 
these successes on land, France lost meantime seven ships 
of the line, together with the possession of Cayenne, Mar- 
tinique, and three of the Ionian Isles. Divorcing Jose- 
phine, his wife, Napoleon effected a marriage with Marie 
Louise, the daughter of the Austrian emperor.* This act 
of Napoleon before he had received a direct negative reply 
to his proposal to the Eussian princess, connected with his 
refusal to comply with the wishes of that court in regard 
to Poland, as well as his interference in the affairs of 
Sweden, gave great offence to Alexander. The same result 
was produced in other quarters by the annexation of 
Holland to France. Guadalupe, Bourbon, and the Isle of 
France were stripped from the emperor in rapid succession, 
though great success crowned his arms in Spain. Avowing 
dissatisfaction with Alexander on account of his non-com- 
pliance with the provisions of the Berlin decree (1812), 
Napoleon prepared for an attack on Eussia. At his first 
approaches the Eussians retired before him, and he ob- 
tained possession of Lithuania. Their ardor being kindled, 
they displayed intrepidity at Smolensk, Valentia, and 
Borodino. Upon their retreat the French moved towards 
Moscow, found it deserted and solitary, seized its immense 
possessions, which were suddenly snatched from their grasp 
by the devouring flames lighted in every direction by the 
torches of concealed citizens and serfs. An armistice and 
a peace were proposed and rejected. Late in the autumn 
Napoleon commenced his fatal retreat, and quitting his 
army in disguise on the sixth of December, he arrived at 
midnight on the eighteenth of the same month in Paris. 
Signal as was this failure, it was but the precursor of 

* Al. Eu. in loc, 



EMPIRE OF THE FRANKS TO FALL OF NAPOLEON III. 225 

greater misfortunes. Russia, Prussia, and Sweden were 
now united in a firm alliance against the French emperor. 
Notwithstanding his dreadful previous losses, Napoleon 
was able to bring into the field an army of three hundred 
and fifty thousand men. Many indecisive actions took 
place during the summer. Though the French emperor 
was weakened by the desertion of German confederates, he 
triumphed at Lutzen and Bautzen. Peace would have 
followed this success had not the failure of Joseph in 
Spain, at Vittoria, determined the Austrian court in favor 
of the allies, thus bringing a greatly augmented force into 
the field. A bloody struggle followed. Notwithstanding 
Napoleon's success at Dresden, defeats in other directions 
threw a deep gloom over his affairs. From the sixteenth 
to the eighteenth of October the decisive engagements took 
place at Leipzig, where the emperor was totally defeated 
and near falling into the hands of his enemies. This vic- 
tory changed the condition of Germany and re-established 
the house of Orange. In such strength did the allies now 
appear that they refused peace on any condition but that 
of reducing the French Empire to the territory between 
the Pyrenees, the Alps, and the Rhine. On Napoleon's 
refusal to accede to this proposition they commenced the 
invasion of France. In six months the capital was cap- 
tured. This decisive stroke produced the emperor's deposi- 
tion, and at last his abdication, being provided with a 
retreat on the island of Elba, the sovereignty of which, 
with all his titles, he was to enjoy, as well as a revenue of 
two millions of francs yearly. The duchies of Parma, 
Placentia, and Guastalla were secured to Marie Louise 
(a.d. 1814). 

Monarchy was re-established in France and Louis XVIII. 
recalled to the throne. The king subjected the press to 
censorship, interdicted traffic, and forbid theatrical amuse- 



226 OUTLIKE EVOLUTION OF EMPIEE AND PROPHECY. 

ments on the Sabbath. Discontent spread throughout the 
realm, which was fomented by the friends of the late em- 
peror. Napoleon, taking advantage of this state of things, 
landed in France with a force of eleven hundred and forty 
men. Traversing the country unmolested, he arrived at 
Lyons, where he held his court. Deserted by citizens and 
soldiers, the cause of Louis XVIII. became hopeless and 
he retired to the Netherlands. Napoleon entered Paris 
amid the acclamations of the populace, and took possession 
of the palace. Freedom was given to the press, the sever- 
ity of the consolidated tax was alleviated, and many popular 
laws were promulgated. The allied powers, however, were 
resolute in their purpose. Although Napoleon gained ad- 
vantages at St. Amand and Ligny and appeared trium- 
phant at Waterloo, yet the tide of fortune turned against 
him on the approach of the Prussians, and victory was 
accorded to Wellington. Resigning the imperial authority 
under the impression his son would succeed to it, the 
fallen hero retired to Eochefort. After having in vain en- 
deavored to escape by sea to America, Napoleon formed 
the resolution of throwing himself upon the generosity of 
England. Maitland, the commander of the Bellerophon, 
conveyed him to Torbay. The allies exiled him to St. 
Helena, where he died on the 5th day of May, 1821. 

Louis XVIII. resumed the throne. A general pacifica- 
tion took place at Paris, by which the French were com- 
pelled to support foreign troops to the number of one hun- 
dred and fifty thousand in the frontier fortresses for five 
years, pay seven millions of francs, and unite with the 
four powers in the exclusion of Bonaparte and his family 
from France, as well as in the suppression of revolutionary 
principles. Marshal Ney and General Labedoy^re were 
tried for having united with Napoleon, convicted and shot. 
Scenes of blood occurred at Avignon, Marseilles, Lyons, 



EMPIRE OF THE PRANKS TO PALL OF NAPOLEON III. 227 

and Paris: at the first of which places Marshal Brune was 
assassinated in open day, and his body thrown into the 
Bhone; at the last, the Duke de Berri shared a similar fate. 
On the death of Louis XVIII., his brother, the Count of 
Artois, succeeded as Charles X. The rancor of party was 
allayed by the successful expedition of the French against 
Algiers. The joy consequent upon this event had scarcely 
subsided when the privy council represented to the king 
that the government and throne were in danger from revo- 
lutionary principles. Charles, smarting under the remon- 
strance of the chamber of deputies against the ministers, 
on the receipt of which he had dissolved the parliament, 
hastily lent an ear to the advice of his cabinet. Two edicts 
were issued: one suspended the liberty of the press, the 
other modified the laws relating to the election of deputies. 
The effect produced by these measures upon the Parisians 
was soon displayed in unequivocal acts. The press con- 
tinued in defiance of the king, and the people sustained it 
by their patronage. Officers were sent to seize or destroy 
the. presses; mobs assembled; the gendarmes were com- 
manded to disperse them; the populace assailed them; the 
report of firearms was heard; a sanguinary conflict ensued 
which raged without intermission for three days. Charles, 
finding the people triumphant, revoked the edicts. It was 
too late. Men of influence, among whom was La Fayette, 
had determined the government should be changed. The 
king offered to abdicate the throne in favor of the dauphin. 
The proffer was rejected, a provisional system established, 
and the Duke of Orleans created lieutenant-general of the 
kingdom. Charles was finally compelled to leave France, 
and took up his residence at Holyrood House in Edinburgh, 
Scotland. 

Parliament remodelled the constitution and conferred the 
crown on the Duke of Orleans, cousin to the late king, who 



228 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIKE AND PEOPHECY. 

took the title of Louis Philippe I., King of the French. 
Proceedings were instituted against the ministers of 
Charles. All but three were taken and condemned to per- 
petual imprisonment. Prince Polignac, who had been 
prime minister, was pronounced out of the protection of 
the law. Louis was not yet firmly seated on the throne. 
Both the republicans and the friends of the late govern- 
ment were his enemies. So violent was the opposition 
from this source that it came well-nigh producing a revolu- 
tion. Foreign transactions measurably diverted the pub- 
lic mind. Yet notwithstanding the brilliant achievements 
of the French at San Juan de Ulloa, Antwerp, and in Al- 
geria, the spirit of reform which pervaded the masses ren- 
dered insecure the throne of Louis. The electoral law of 
1831 enabled only about two hundred thousand out of 
thirty-five millions of people to enjoy the right of suffrage. 
An extension of this privilege had from time to time been 
promised by the ministry. The reform party, impatient at 
the delays of government, organized a central committee 
at Paris. Sub-committees were created in every part of 
the kingdom. Lamartine, Barrot, Arago, and other depu- 
ties favored the movement. The ministry attempted to 
counteract the measure. An address to the king de- 
nounced the leaders as hostile to the national interests. A 
violent contest ensued in the chambers, but the ministry 
triumphed. The government prepared to prevent the ban- 
quet of the clubs (Feb. 22, 1848). The populace attacked 
the hotel of the minister, Guizot, as well as the palace. 
The royal guards interfered; a scene of violence followed; 
the soldiery joined the people; the ministry was dissolved; 
the king abandoned France. The deputies rejecting the 
Count of Paris, next heir to the crown, a provisional gov- 
ernment was established. In the succeeding May the na- 
tional assembly proclaimed a republican constitution, the 



EMPIRE OF THE FRANKS TO FALL OF NAPOLEON III. 229 

first executive office under which was devolved by popular 
vote upon Louis Napoleon, the nephew of the deceased 
emperor. Before the expiration of his official term the 
president destroyed the existing order of things, proclaimed 
a new legislature, consisting of two houses, and was event- 
ually created hereditary emperor of France, and from his 
accession to power was prominent in the important events 
of the times: the war with China, which opened that king- 
dom to commerce, Christianity, and civilization; the war 
with Kussia, by which the designs of that nation on the 
Ottomans were frustrated; and the war with Austria, by 
which the sovereignty of Italy was secured. 

The prominence of the Prince of Hohenzollern, a rela- 
tive of King William of Prusia, as a candidate for the va- 
cant throne of Spain gave offence to Louis. As the as- 
sumption of that crown by the prince would surround the 
French by German influences on the North and South, 
most of the other sovereigns of Europe sustained the em- 
peror in his protest against the German movement. "Wil- 
liam, feeling the pressure of public sentiment, caused the 
prince to decline the proffered crown (a.d. 1870). Had 
Napoleon stopped here he would have come out of this 
controversy with triumph. No sooner, however, was the 
emperor master of events than he demanded of William a 
guarantee that none of the German princes should in the 
future aspire to the Spanish honors. The Prussian 
shrewdly dallied until he was able to put his forces in mo- 
tion and then, bidding defiance to the Frenchman, com- 
menced a war which he had long contemplated in order to 
obtain possession of Alsace and Lorraine. The first blow, 
at Metz, divided the army of France; the second, at Sedan, 
was followed by the surrender of the emperor and his 
army. After this, although the French fought with their 
accustomed bravery, the vast numbers of the Germans over- 



230 OUTLIKE EVOLUTION OE EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

powered them. France was in a few months overrun, and 
Paris would have surrendered had not a peace ensued, by 
which the Germans gained Alsace and Lorraine and four 
milliards of francs as indemnity for the expenses of the 
war. 

France was doomed to suffer more by the hands of her 
citizens than by the arms of foreign foes. Scarcely had 
the national assembly at Versailles effected the peace with 
Germany than a monstrous insurrection arose at Paris, 
which was not terminated until near one hundred thousand 
lives were lost and one third of that city destroyed by fire 
(a.d. 1871). A republic was declared with Thiers at its 
head; who soon becoming unpopular, General McMahon 
succeeded as president; he being in turn followed by Grevy, 
the present (1884) chief executive. 



CHAPTEK XV. 

THE AUSTRASIAN DIVISION OF THE EMPIRE OF THE 
FRANKS FROM THE ELECTION OF CONRAD OF FRAN- 
CONIA TO THE DEATH OF MAXIMILIAN I. " 

The Germanic states conferred their sovereignty upon 
Conrad Count of Franconia (a.d. 911).* This confedera- 
tion embraced Franconia, Bamberg, Suabia, Constans, 
Basle, Berne, Lausanne, Bergundy, Besancon, Lorraine, 
Metz, Liege, Cambray, Arras, Flanders, Holland, Zealand, 
Utrecht, Cologne, Treves, Mentz, Worms, Spire, Stras- 
burg, Friesland, Saxony, Hesse, Westphalia, Thuringia, 
Watteravia, Messin, Brandenburg, Pomerania, Eugen, 

* Kohlrausch's Ger., ch. vi. p. 15. Aug. His., Vol. V. p. 
Vol. VII. p. 66. Rev. xiii.-xx. 



EROM CONRAD'S ELECTION TO DEATH OF MAXIMILIAN I. 231 

Stettin, Holstein, Austria, Carinthia, Styria, the Tyrolese, 
Bavaria, the G-risons, and all their dependencies. Not- 
withstanding this powerful array of strength, the emperor 
was compelled to purchase an ignominious peace from the 
Huns. Henry, surnamed the Fowler, was elected emperor 
by the states. The empire was fortified by walling the 
principal towns and placing the frontiers under marquises, 
who were furnished with soldiers and subsistence. Lor- 
raine was subdued, and the Huns were defeated at Merse- 
burgh. Previous to the emperor's death, the states set- 
tled the succession on his son Otho. The Huns made 
another incursion upon the empire. Otho overthrew 
them at Dortmund. Shortly afterwards Bohemia revolted. 
The emperor reduced it to a tributary condition, com- 
pelling its inhabitants, then pagans, to receive the Eoman 
Catholic religion. A triumph equally signal was obtained 
over Everhard Duke of Bavaria, who refused to do 
homage on the pretence that he was not the vassal but 
the ally of the emperor. The dominions of the defeated 
duke were given to his uncle Bartolf, and one of his 
brothers was created count palatine, or supreme judge, of 
Bavaria; the other of the Ehine. In order to reduce the 
power of the nobles, Otho conferred duchies and counties 
on the clergy. The Danes were forced to receive baptism 
and pay tribute. Italy was successfully invaded ; the 
emperor crowned by the pope and dignified by the title 
of Augustus; the pope swearing allegiance to the emperor 
on the tomb of St. Peter, and receiving a renewal of the 
donations of Pepin and Charlemagne. No sooner, how- 
ever, had Otho withdrawn than the pope renounced his 
allegiance. Otho returned to Kome. The pope was 
deposed, Leo VIII. elected, who, with the clergy and citi- 
zens, renewed the oath lately taken, binding themselves 
neither to elect nor consecrate a pope without the consent 



232 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIKE AND PKOPHECY. 

of the emperor. The attention of Otho was directed to 
Spoleto in consequence of some disturbances there. John 
XII., the late pope, was restored; Leo VIII. dethroned. 
Shortly afterwards John was assassinated, but his party 
refused to acknowledge Leo and proceeded to elect Bene- 
dict V. Informed of these proceedings, the emperor re- 
turned to Eome, reduced it, and restored Leo to his honors. 
The pope, clergy, and people agreed that Otho and his 
successors in the kingdom of Italy should always have the 
power of naming a pope and of giving investiture to 
bishops. Notwithstanding this agreement the Romans 
again rebelled, on the election of John XIII. Otho 
entered Rome, banished the consuls, hanged the tribunes, 
caused the praefect to be whipped through the streets, and, 
having restored John XIII., retired to Capua, where he 
received ambassadors from the Greek emperor. Otho II. 
became emperor on the death of his father, Otho I. 
Reducing Bavaria, Denmark, Bohemia, and settling the 
difficulties in Lorraine, the emperor marched into Italy, 
took possession of Rome, chastised the rebels, who had 
again agitated the difficulties of the papacy; but, in 
attempting to wrest Calabria from the Greeks, he was cut 
to pieces by the Saracens, their allies. Not long after, 
the emperor dying, Otho III., a minor, came to the 
sceptre. A troublesome regency ensued. The emperor 
arriving at age, gave clear evidence of talent. Rome, still 
refractory, was subdued on the appearance of Otho ; as 
soon as he withdrew, the flame of discord kindled in all 
its fury. Returning, however, with a strong army, the 
emperor took the city by assault, inflicting the most san- 
guinary punishments upon the heads of faction. After 
the death of Otho III. a sharp contest arose about a suc- 
cessor. Henry Duke of Bavaria was finally elected em- 
peror. The disturbances in Germany and Poland were 



FROM CONRAD'S ELECTION TO DEATH OF MAXIMILIAN I. 233 

quelled, Italy subdued, and Henry crowned at Rome by 
Benedict VIII. Conrad of Franconia, his successor, was 
equally successful in Germany and Italy. His son, Henry 
III., came to the possession of power on the death of 
Conrad. The triumphs of this were not behind those of 
a former reign, both in Hungary and Italy. 

Henry IV., afterwards surnamed the Great, was only six 
years old at the death of his father, Henry III. Upon his 
arrival at age he assumed the reigns of government. 
Troubles arose in Saxony in consequence of the emperor's 
conduct to Otho of Nordheim. A war followed in which 
Henry was victorious; the bitterest feeling, however, was 
entertained against him by the Saxons. Gregory VII., 
by appearing to side with the emperor, procured the con- 
firmation of his election.* This end accomplished, the 
pope threw off the mask; excommunicated every clergy- 
man who received a benefice from a layman, every layman 
who conferred one; attempted to free the clergy from 
the civil power, and subjected all temporal princes to the 
see of Rome. Henry, enraged at being summoned before 
the pope for continuing to bestow investitures, sent an 
ambassador to Rome with a formal deprivation of Gre- 
gory. In turn the emperor was deposed and excommu- 
nicated, and was so depressed by ecclesiastical revenge 
that he humbled himself at the feet of his holiness. 
Supported by the Germans, Gregory procured Rudolph of 
Suabia to be elected to the sceptre. All thus at stake, 
Henry was driven to arms; met his enemies; defeated them 
in several engagements in Germany; marched to Italy, 
where, his cause being favored, he degraded the pope, pro- 
cured the election of another, and made himself master 
of Rome after a siege of two years. A similar success 

* Kol. Ger., pp. 143-153. Rev. xiii.-xv. Chapter V., ante. 



234 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

attended the imperial arms in Germany, where the Saxons 
had set up a king of the Eomans. New troubles arose in 
Italy. Conrad, the emperor's eldest son, rebelled. The 
Italian cities and nobles supporting the usurpation, the 
emperor found it impossible to succeed and retired to Ger- 
many, where Conrad was denounced and his brother Henry 
declared king of the Eomans. Meantime Conrad died, 
and young Henry was incited to action by the pope. Both 
father and son prepared to decide the contest by the 
sword. The latter, dreading the military superiority of 
the former, implored his forgiveness, imputing his folly to 
the adyice of evil counsellors. The father, taking him 
into favor, immediately dismissed his forces. The credu- 
lous Henry was seized by his perfidious son, who assembled 
a diet, deposed the emperor, and was himself proclaimed 
as Henry V. Degraded and a prisoner, Henry IV. suffered 
every species of outrage, and as his affairs were about 
taking a more favorable turn he suddenly died at Liege. 

Henry V. was no sooner seated on the throne than he 
asserted the right of investiture, and marched into Italy 
an army of thirty thousand men.* A battle ensued; the 
emperor was victorious; Pope Pascal II. was taken prisoner, 
and the affair was settled by a confirmation of Henry's 
right of investiture. New scenes of violence, however, 
soon occurred upon the old subject of investitures. A 
general council was convoked. The whole matter was 
eventually arranged by the emperor yielding the free 
choice of bishops and the right of investiture by the ring 
and staff; in return for which the election was to take 
place in his presence or that of his plenipotentiary, with 
reserved power on his part to decide doubtful cases or those 
in which the electors could not agree, and to make investi- 

' *Kol. Ger., 154. ' 



FROM CONRAD'S ELECTION TO DEATH OF MAXIMILIAN I. 235 

tures of temporal possessions with the sceptre and spiritual 
ones in Germany in the same manner. On the death of 
Henry Y. without issue, Lothario, Duke of Saxe-Supplen- 
bourg was chosen emperor. Enlisting in his favor Conrad 
of Franconia and Frederick of Suabia, and subduing the 
Bohemians, Lothario was involved in the contest between 
the rival popes Innocent and Anacletus. The former was 
finally restored, and the allies of the latter the Norman 
princes of Apulia and Calabria, compelled to surrender 
their possessions. Conrad of Franconia succeeded to the 
sceptre. His throne was disputed by Henry Duke of 
Bavaria, whose family name was Guelph, from which his 
partisans were called Guelphs. The Imperialists, from the 
paternal castle of Conrad, — Viebling, — were styled Ghibel- 
lines. Henry, though able to conduct the war for some 
time, was eventually overpowered. Conrad used his good 
fortune with tenderness, and the matter was accommodated. 
An unfortunate crusade to the Holy Land terminated the 
events of this reign. Frederick surnamed Barbarossa, 
nephew of Conrad, succeeded to the sceptre. After re- 
ceiving the congratulations of nearly all the kingdoms of 
Europe and the oath of allegiance from his vassal, the king 
of Denmark, the emperor settled the affairs of Germany 
and proceeded to quiet the disturbances in Italy. At his 
coronation Frederick was offended with the ceremony of 
holding the stirrups and bridle of the pope; but his scru- 
ples were finally overcome, and he went through all the 
formalities of prostrating himself before his holiness, kiss- 
ing his foot, and leading his white palfrey by the bridle 
nine Eoman spaces. New difficulties arose in Bohemia and 
Poland. The activity and valor of the emperor succeeded 
in humbling the former and in conquering the latter, 
which was erected into a tributary kingdom. The Italian 
states asserted their independence. After alternate defeat 



236 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OP EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

and success a reconciliation was effected by granting a gen- 
eral pardon to the Eoman cities, with liberty to use their 
own laws and forms of government. Meanwhile Germany 
was disturbed by the encroachments of Henry Duke of 
Saxony, who was subdued and received into favor. Re- 
solving on a crusade to the Holy Land, the emperor set out 
with a large army; crossed the Hellespont; defeated the 
Turks in several battles; took Iconium; but was acciden- 
tally drowned in the river Cydnus. Henry VI., his son, 
succeeded to the throne. A bloody effort to recover Sicily 
from the possession of Tancred, the natural brother of his 
wife, occupied the life and reign of this emperor. Three 
persons were proclaimed by as many separate diets: Philip 
of Suabia, Otho of Brunswick, and Frederick son of 
Henry VI. After a desolating civil war, Frederick, being 
successful over his rivals, was crowned at Aix-la-Ohapelle. 
Two large armies furnished to the crusaders were forced 
to conclude a dishonorable treaty with the soldan of Egypt 
and Syria. Some years afterwards, Frederick having mar- 
ried the daughter of De Brienne, the titular king of Jeru- 
salem, and goaded into the expedition by the pope, set out 
for the recovery of the Holy Land, and procured the ces- 
sion of Jerusalem and its territories with less trouble and 
in a shorter time than any who had preceded in the enter- 
prise. The pope illy repaid these services, filling up the 
remainder of the life of Frederick with feuds, rebellions, 
and wars. An interregnum of twenty-three years followed. 
The empire fell a prey to factions. Denmark, Holland, 
Hungary, and Poland became independent. Lubeck, 
Cologne, Brunswick, and Dantzic created the Hanseatic 
League. Italy assumed a new form of government. The 
cities of Lombardy purchased their freedom. Sicily 
changed its prince and constitution. 

Rudolph Count of Hapsburg was at last raised to the 



FROM CONRAD'S ELECTION TO DEATH OF MAXIMILIAN I. 237 

vacant throne. Some princes protested against the elec- 
tion; among them was the king of Bohemia, who was 
finally slain in battle and his Austrian possessions trans- 
ferred to Albert, the eldest son of the emperor. Rudolph 
spent the last years of his life in establishing the grandeur 
of his own family. Disappointed in the death of the son 
who bore his name and chagrined in not being able to pro- 
curers son Albert to be elected king of the Romans, the 
emperor died after a reign of eighteen years. Adolphus 
of Nassau succeeded to power. A scene of turmoil ter- 
minated in his deposition and in the elevation of Albert of 
Austria. Civil war ensued, and Adolphus was slain in the 
battle of Worms by the hand of Albert. The diet of Frank- 
fort confirmed the title of Albert, and his coronation fol- 
lowed at Aix-la-Chapelle. The first years of the emperor 
were consumed in a quarrel with the pope, which was ter- 
minated by the admission of Albert that emperors and 
kings derive their power from his holiness.* Albert lost 
his life in an attempt to subdue the Swiss, who had shaken 
off the Austrian yoke. The Count of Luxemburg was 
elected emperor under the name of Henry VII. With a 
view to crush the independent feeling which displayed 
itself in Italy, the emperor marched thither a large army. 
Some places submitted; others resisted; eventually all were 
subdued. An interregnum of fourteen months occurred 
after the death of Henry VII. The intrigues of Louis of 
Bavaria and Frederick of Austria distracted the empire. 
The former was elected; the latter was supported by a 
strong faction. The battle of Muhldorf placed Louis 
firmly on the throne. Pope John XXII. denounced the 
title of the emperor. Negotiation proving ineffectual, an 
assembly of princes, civil and ecclesiastical, was convoked 

* Chapter V. New. Dis., xxvi. pp. 605, 606; Kev. xiii. 16, 17. 



238 OUTLIKE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AKD PROPHECY. 

at Frankfort, which decreed that the plurality of the suf- 
frages of the electoral college confers the empire without 
the consent of the holy see, and that during a vacancy the 
government devolves on the count palatine of the Ehine. 
The war, however, was continued until the death of Louis, 
when the Margrave of Moravia became possessed of the 
imperial power under the name of Charles IV. In this 
reign the university of Prague was founded and the famous 
golden bull promulgated by the diet of Nuremberg. An 
electoral college was constituted by this instrument, con- 
sisting of the archbishops of Mentz, Cologne, and Treves, 
the king of Bohemia, the count palatine, the Duke of 
Saxony, and the Margrave of Brandenburg. "Wenceslaus, 
the son of Charles IV., succeeded to his dignities. The 
welfare of his people occupied his attention for some years, 
but eventually falling into all sorts of debaucheries, the 
emperor neglected public concerns and was deposed by a 
diet held at the castle of Lsenstein. Eupert of the Palati- 
nate was elected to his place. An unsuccessful invasion of 
Italy and attempts on the Hussites in Bohemia were the 
prominent acts of this emperor. Sigismund, brother of 
Wenceslaus, came to the sceptre. Desirous to heal the 
wounds of the Eoman Catholic Church, the Council of 
Constance (a.d. 1411) was convoked by the emperor. The 
renunciation of all the pretenders to the popedom was 
recommended. Two complied; the third, Peter de Luna, 
persisted in his claim to the last* and was deposed. Martin 
V. was elected. John Huss, who opposed the infallibility 
and supremacy of the Eoman hierarchy, was burnt. Jer- 
ome of Prague shared a similar fate for like conduct. 
The religious opinions of these evangelical men, however, 
were too well established to be destroyed by the decree of a 
council or the fury of persecution. The opposition to the 
hierarchy of Eome set in with fearful power from this 



ATJSTRASIAN DIVISION OF THE FRANKISH EMPIRE. 239 

period. John emphatically describes the times when he 
exclaims, "I heard a yoice from heaven, as the voice of 
many waters and as the voice of a great thunder" (Rev. 
xiv. 2).* Albert II. of Austria succeeded to the sceptre, 
but soon died in an ineffectual war against the Turks. 
Frederick, his cousin, was chosen emperor. Procuring a 
settlement of the conflicting claims for the popedom in the 
Council of Basle, he proceeded to Italy, where he was 
crowned. Though his arms were unavailing in Hungary 
and Lower Austria, the victory of John Hunniades Oor- 
vinus forever stayed the progress of the Turks in Europe. 
Maximilian I., his son, took the sceptre. Possessed of the 
Low Counties by marriage with the heiress of Burgundy, 
the emperor was able to form those powerful alliances 
which made him so terrific to Louis VIII. of France. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

THE AUSTRASIAN DIVISION OF THE EMPIRE OF THE FRANKS 
TO THE PRESENT TIMES. 

The grandson of Maximilian I., Charles, king of Spain, 
was elected emperor.f The first object which Charles 
V. desired to accomplish was the suppression of the re- 
formed religion. Martin Luther, professor of theology 
in the university of Wittenberg, had been cited before 
the diet of Augsburg in the last reign; but denied a 
fair hearing, he appealed to Rome. Notwithstanding 



*New. Proph. Dis., xxiv., xxv. p. 523. 

fKol. Ger., ch. xvii., xl. Robertson's Charles V. Cox's Austria. 
Rev. xiii., xx. New. Dis., xxiv. pp. 537-585. Scott in loc. 



240 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

the condemnation of the reformer's opinions by the 
Pope, Charles summoned another diet at Worms. Luther 
attended under the safe-conduct of the emperor. His 
firmness was remarkable. Admitting the acrimony of 
his controversial writings, he refused, though threatened 
with death, to renounce his opinions until convinced of 
their error. He finally departed to Saxony, where he 
flourished under his old patron the elector, notwithstand- 
ing the diet condemned his tenets and outlawed his person. 
After the peace of Cambray the Italian states were in 
the power of Charles. As well from a fear of the Otto- 
mans as from political considerations, he was induced to 
pursue a mild course of conduct. Nearly one half the 
Germanic states now adopted the sentiments of the re- 
formers. In order to stay the rapid progress of the Re- 
formation the emperor convoked a diet at Spire. This 
body issued a decree confirming the edict of Worms. 
Many of the princes and free cities protested against it 
and were hence called Protestants. The diet of Augs- 
burg followed the next year, where the Protestants pre- 
sented their opinions in a written form, which is denom- 
inated the Confession of Augsburg. Neither party was 
now disposed to yield. Charles turned to the patron 
princes of the reformers, who refused to forsake them or 
their doctrines. A decree was issued condemning the 
Protestant tenets and prohibiting the toleration of those 
who taught them. The Protestant princes entered into a 
league at Smalcald for mutual defence. Charles, dread- 
ing an invasion of the Ottomans and the loss of Protestant 
influence in that event, granted to that party by the treaty 
of Nuremberg liberty of conscience until the meeting of a 
general council. Charles took the field against the Otto- 
mans. Solyman II., fearful of his powerful foe, retired 
without striking a blow. The effort of the Hungarians 



AUSTRASIAN DIVISION OF THE FKAKKISH EMPIRE. 241 

against the Porte was not equally happy, though the 
emperor had occasion for joy in consequence of the success 
of his African expedition, the suppression of the mutiny 
among his troops, and the reduction of Castile and Ghent, 
both of which had been in open rebellion. 

The Protestants, having repeatedly demanded a general 
council, now pressed the appointment of a conference 
where the points in dispute might be examined. This 
opportunity was afforded in the diet of Eatisbon. Only a 
few points were settled. An edict of recess decreed these 
matters concluded, and reserved the other points of con- 
troversy for the adjudication of a general conncil or a 
national synod. Meantime no innovations were to be 
made or means employed to gain proselytes. This edict 
was offensive to both pope and Protestants. Charles, to 
obtain the favor of the latter, granted them a private dec- 
laration of exemption from whatever they deemed oppres- 
sive in the edict. After the unfortunate expedition of the 
emperor against Algiers his conduct towards the Protes- 
tants underwent a radical change. Concluding the disad- 
vantageous peace of Crespy with France, and procuring a 
truce with Solyman II. by confirming his right to one half 
of Hungary, as well as that of his brother to the remaining 
portion of that country on the payment of tribute, 
Charles, in connection with Pope Paul III., commenced 
vigorous measures for the extirpation of the Reformed 
religion. Meanwhile a general council sat at Trent. 
The Protestants, considering it a body assembled to con- 
demn rather than to examine their opinions, resolved not 
to admit its authority. Charles, concluding to compel 
them, concealed his purpose by various pretexts, so as to 
raise sufficient force to effect his purpose. The leaders of 
the Protestants did not suffer themselves to be deceived, 
though they were greatly dejected by the death, of Luther, 



242 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

Collecting an army of over seventy thousand men, they 
would have carried their point had they not by impru- 
dently spending their time in negotiation afforded their 
adversaries opportunity for action. Maurice of Thuringia, 
a neutral prince, was induced by the emperor to invade 
the electorate of Saxony. Ulm, a city of Suabia, was sub- 
dued. In a short time the Elector of Saxony and the 
landgrave were the only supporters of the league of 
Smalcald. Its destruction would have been inevitable 
but for assistance from Frauce. The elector was de- 
feated and taken prisoner near Muhlberg. The land- 
grave, left without a hope, yielded to the emperor, who 
carried both his conquered foes about with him in 
triumph. 

A diet was summoned to meet at Augsburg, finally to 
compose the controversies in regard to religion. The 
Council of Trent having been meantime transferred by 
the pope to Bologna, the emperor sent two ambassadors 
there to protest against the removal. A system of doctrine 
denominated the Interim was published, conformity to 
which was required until the meeting of a general council. 
Both parties were dissatisfied. The pope dying, his suc- 
cessor, Julius III., ordered the general council to reassemble 
at Trent. The council at last (a.d. 1551) met at Trent, 
though the Grallican deputies were not present, having 
been prevented from coming, as was alleged by the French 
ambassador, by the war of Parma, on which ground he 
protested against the proceedings at the outset of the ses- 
sion. The pope's legate treated the protest with contempt. 
The council went into the consideration of the topics for 
the settlement of which it had been assembled. Its de- 
crees completely established the Roman Catholic tenets. 
The Protestants, refusing compliance, were exposed to much 
persecution. Maurice, Elector of Saxony, resolved to op- 



AUSTRASIAtf DIVISION OF THE PRANKISH EMPIRE. 243 

pose the civil and religious despotism of the emperor. In 
the execution of the plan he conducted himself with such 
adroitness that Charles never suspected him, while the 
Protestants were all brought to repose full confidence in 
his sincerity. Effecting an alliance with Henry II. of 
France, Maurice struck the first blow at Innspruck, where 
the emperor would have fallen into the hands of his foes 
had he not escaped over the Alps. Peace was concluded 
at Passau (a.d. 1552) on the following terms: The confed- 
erates were to lay down their arms by the twelfth of Au- 
gust; the landgrave was to be released; a diet was to be 
assembled in six months to settle religious disputes; mean- 
time both parties were to enjoy full religious liberty; the 
imperial chamber was to administer justice to both parties 
impartially, where both were to sit indiscriminately as 
judges; all encroachments of constitutional liberty alleged 
to have been committed were to be submitted to the diet, 
and in case that body could not terminate the religious 
difficulties all the rights secured to the Protestants by this 
treaty were to be continued to them forever. The contest 
still continued in Germany by the Margrave of Branden- 
burg was decided at Sieverhausen, where Maurice gained a 
victory, but died in consequence of a wound received in 
the battle. 

The diet sat conformably to the peace of Passau, but its 
deliberations were prevented by the troubles created by 
Albert of Brandenburg. Its decrees eventually settled that 
the cities and princes adhering to the Confession of Augs- 
burg should enjoy their worship and faith without moles- 
tation; that the Catholic clergy within their limits should 
claim no jurisdiction, but should enjoy it within those cities 
adhering to the pope without Protestant interference; 
that no means except those of persuasion should be used 
to settle religious differences; that the civil power of every 



244 OUTLINE EVOLUTION" OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

state shall determine the form, of faith and worship, per- 
mitting dissenters to withdraw with their effects; and that 
the benefices of the church shall remain as at the peace of 
Passau, unless in case of an ecclesiastic renouncing Catholi- 
cism, which should work a forfeiture of his benefice. 
Charles V. shortly afterwards resigned the imperial sceptre 
and dominions to his brother Ferdinand and retired to 
private life. 

The pope attempted to reassemble the Council of Trent. 
The Protestants persisted in denying its authority. The 
body was eventually dissolved without effecting anything 
but an effort to exalt the ecclesiastical over the civil power. 
Maximilian II. was the son and successor of Ferdinand I. 
Soon after his elevation he was engaged in a war with the 
Ottomans, who entered Hungary and subdued Sigeth after 
a gallant defence. On the death of the sultan a peace of 
ten years was concluded with his successor. Eudolph II. 
succeeded to power on the death of his father, Maximilian 
II. The Ottoman invasion of Hungary was renewed and 
thwarted by Mathias, the brother of the emperor. The 
grateful Hungarians placed their crown on the head of 
their deliverer. The Protestant states, deprived of their 
privileges by new imperial impositions, formed a confed- 
eracy called the Evangelical Union, which was opposed 
two years afterwards by another denominated the Catholic 
League. A controversy arose as to the succession of the 
duchies of Cleves, Juliers, and Berg. The emperor 
ordered the possessions to be sequestered, and Leopold his 
brother was sent as governor over them until the difficulty 
should be settled. These acts gave offence to two of the 
competitors, the Elector of Brandenburg and the Duke of 
Neuburg, with whom the Evangelical Union took sides. 
Preparations were made for war by securing the alliance of 
the French king. Henry IV. being killed, these hostile 



AUSTRASIAN DIVISION OF THE FRANKISH EMPIRE. 245 

bodies seemed to be dissolved, though the claimants still 
continued their pretensions and expelled the sequestrator. 
Meantime Rudolph II. died and his brother Mathias came to 
the throne. Having no lineal issue, the emperor's cousin, 
the Duke of Stiria, a violent Catholic, was elected king of 
Bohemia and acknowledged in Hungary. King Ferdinand, 
considering himself the champion of papacy, soon assailed 
the Protestants. Hungary and Bohemia revolted. The 
former was appeased; but the latter, joined by Silesia, Mo- 
ravia, and Upper Austria and headed by Count de la Tour, 
who was supported by a body of German Protestants under 
Count Mansfeldt, held out, and a furious civil war arose. 
Amidst this commotion the Duke of Stiria succeeded as 
emperor under the title of Ferdinand II. Bohemia de- 
posed the emperor from its throne and chose for its king 
Frederick V., elector palatine. The elector was utterly 
ruined by his defeat at Prague. The other claimant to the 
crown resigned his pretensions. The house of Austria 
was consequently completely established in Germany, and 
sought by a close alliance with Spain to become more than 
a match for its continental neighbors. The king of Den- 
mark and the league in Lower Saxony could not withstand 
Ferdinand, who, imagining that he had rendered Catholi- 
cism triumphant forever, went so far as to issue an edict 
ordering the German Protestants to restore the church - 
lands held by them since the peace of Passau. The Pro- 
testants remonstrated against the edict of restitution; which 
proving ineffectual, they formed an alliance with Gustavus 
Adolphus, king of Sweden. After fortifying himself by 
treaties with England and France, the king entered Ger- 
many, defeated the imperialists at Leipsic, and made him- 
self master of the country from the Elbe to the Rhine. 
Repulsed at Naumburg, Gustavus retreated without mate- 
rial loss; but joining battle at Lutzen, he was killed, though 



246 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

his forces were ultimately victorious. The alliance, however, 
was continued, and nothing could have prevented its suc- 
cessful termination had not the members of the Evangeli- 
cal Union been thrown into consternation by the. victory 
of the imperialists at Nordlingen. The peace of Prague 
followed (a.d. 1635). Its terms were that the Protestants 
or Lutherans should retain forever the mediate ecclesiastical 
benefices which did not depend immediately upon the em- 
peror and were seized before the peace of Passau, and 
retain for forty years the immediate ones, though seized 
since that peace, if actually engaged before the twelfth day 
of November, 1627; that the Protestant religion shall be 
permitted to exist throughout the empire, except in Bohe- 
mia and Austria; that the Duke of Bavaria shall possess 
the Palatinate on condition of paying the jointure of 
Frederick's widow and giving a fit subsistence to his son 
on his return to duty; and that there shall be a mutual res- 
titution of property taken since the irruption of Gustavus. 
This settlement left the burden of the war to be borne 
by the Swedes and French. Their operations at the out- 
set were extensive but unsuccessful. The imperialists took 
Kaiserslautern, mastered Vandervange, possessed them- 
selves of Italy, triumphed in the Low Countries, and came 
within three days' march of Paris. The scene, however, 
changed. The Swedes, re-enforced by the French, tri- 
umphed at Wittstoch. Soon after this misfortune Ferdi- 
nand II. died and his son, Ferdinand III., came to the pos- 
session of the sceptre. A succession of calamities occurred. 
The imperialists were defeated near Eheinf els by the French. 
In Pomerania and Bohemia they shared a similar fate at 
the hands of the Swedes. Though repulsed at Saltzburg, 
the allies triumphed at "Wolfenbuttel, Breitenfeld, Leipsic, 
Holstein, Friburg, Tabor, and Zusmarshausen. The em- 
peror, overpowered by his adversaries, concluded the peace 



AUSTRASIAN DIVISION OF THE FRANKISH EMPIRE. 247 

of Westphalia, at Munster (a.d. 1648). By this treaty 
France was to possess the three archbishoprics Metz, Toul, 
Verdun; Pignerol, Brisaw, Suntgaco, upper and lower 
Alsace, and the right to keep a garrison in Philipsburg: 
Sweden, besides five millions of dollars, had the archbishop- 
ric of Bremen, the bishopric Verdun secularized, Pomerania, 
Stettin, the isle of Rugen, the city of Wismar, in Meek, 
lenburg, to be held as fiefs of the emperor, with three votes 
in the diet: the Elector of Brandenburg took, in the 
place of Upper Pomerania, the bishopric of Magdeburg 
secularized, and those of Minden, Camin, and Halberstadt, 
with four votes in the diet: the Duke of Mecklenburg 
received the bishoprics of Schwerin and Eatzeburg erected 
into secular principalities, in the place of Wismar: the 
electoral dignity with the Upper Palatinate remained with 
the Duke of Bavaria and his descendants of the male line: 
the Lower Palatinate was given to Charles Louis, son of 
the deposed elector, in whose favor a ninth electorate w r as 
created, which was to remain until the extinction of the 
house of Bavaria. All the other princes were re-established 
as they were before the year 1619. Switzerland was se- 
cured in its independence. The peace of Passau was con- 
firmed. The disputed succession of Cleves and Juliers 
was referred to arbitration. The same privileges were ex- 
tended to the Calvinists as the Lutherans enjoyed. The 
imperial chamber consisted of twenty-four Protestants 
and twenty-six Catholics; six Protestants placed in the 
Aulic Council; and the diet composed of an equal number 
of Catholic and Protestant deputies, except when convoked 
on concerns of either religion, when the deputies were to 
be elected according to the form of religion in question. 

This terrific struggle broke the tie of Roman supremacy 
as it had existed in Europe for centuries. Since this time 
the hierarchy has been retrograding, until it is now the 



248 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

lamentation of its head that even in the countries where 
its ritual is maintained his power is not respected nor his 
mandates obeyed. " Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great 
city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the 
wrath of her fornication." (Eev. xiv. 8.) 

Eecent movements of the papacy avow a determination 
to re-establish its antiquated infallibility and temporal 
power, even though the struggle should deluge the world 
in blood.* If his holiness is able to produce the battle he 
threatens, he will be liable to two destructive fires; the 
one from the confederated powers outside of his church, 
and the other from that large and influential party inside 
of it which, while it adheres to the creed and ritual of 
Catholicity, regards the infallibility and temporal power of 
the hierarchy as dangerous to civil liberty and subversive 
of national sovereignty. Amidst such overwhelming num- 
bers popery may finally perish, f 

But in regard to all unfulfilled prophecy the observation 
of Sir Isaac Newton should be heeded, " that the folly of 
interpreters has been to foretell times and things by 
prophecy as if God designed to make them prophets ; J" and 
it may be added that it is the folly of most papists of this 
day to deny all history which does not suit their purposes, 
and dovetail fabricated facts into the text of prophecy. 

After the death of Ferdinand III. his son Leopold was 
elected emperor. The Ottoman irruption was repelled and 
Hungary reduced. Eallying from their defeat, the Otto- 
mans fell with dreadful fury on Vienna. It would have 
become a prey to them if the Poles had not arrived for its 
relief. Occupied by the Ottoman war, the emperor pro- 
cured peace from Louis XIV. by surrendering his claims 

* Archbp. Manning's Address, 1874. f New. Dis., 25. 

X Scott's Introd. to Rev. 



AUSTRASIAN DIVISIOK OF THE ERANKISH EMPIRE. 249 

to Luxemburg, Strasburg, and the fortress of Eeihl for 
Courtnay and Dixmunde. The imperial arms were eventu- 
ally successful against the Porte, and Hungary compelled 
to receive Joseph, the emperor's son, as its king. The 
treaty with the sultan ceded to Austria all Hungary next 
the Save, Transylvania and Sclavonia; to Russia, Azoph; 
to the Poles, Oaminice; and to the Venetians the Morea, 
together with several places in Dalmatia. In the midst of 
the war about the Spanish succession Leopold died and 
his son Joseph took the sceptre. Before the conclusion of 
that contest Joseph departed this life and his brother 
Charles became emperor. A war soon followed with the 
sultan which, after the victory of Prince Eugene at Peter- 
waraden, was concluded by the treaty of Passarowitz, by 
which the emperor gained Belgrade and the bannet of 
Temeswar, the Porte got the Morea. A subsequent rup- 
ture placed Belgrade, Sabafcz, Orsovia, Servia, and Austrian 
Wallachia in the hands of the Ottomans; fixed the Danube 
and the Save as the boundaries of the empires; left Azoph 
with Russia on condition of demolishing its fortifications; 
and re-established the ancient lines between Russia and 
Turkey. 

The bloody war which placed Maria Theresa, the female 
issue of Charles VI., in power, while Francis her husband 
was nominally emperor, was scarcely over before hostilities 
ensued with Frederick, king of Prussia. On the death of 
Francis I. his son Joseph obtained the imperial dignity, 
and after his mother's demise he heired all her dominions. 
Notwithstanding this prosperity, an unsuccessful war 
against the sultan, the revolt of the Netherlands, and the 
discontent of the Hungarians broke the emperor's heart, 
and he died at an early age. Leopold, the brother of 
Joseph, succeeded to the sceptre. The Ottomans were pro- 
pitiated, the Netherlands recovered, Poland crushed. 



250 OUTLIKE EVOLUTION" OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

Francis, the son and the successor of Leopold, was soon in- 
volved in the commotions of France. The settlement of 
the congress of Vienna extended to the affairs of Germany. 
The empire was dissolved; a diet composed of the pleni- 
potentiaries of the sovereign princes and free cities, in 
which a delegate of the house of Austria was to preside, 
was provided; freedom of foreign alliance secured to every 
member of the union, with a proviso that he should make 
no treaty inconsistent with the general safety or any par- 
ticular branch of the confederacy; and provisions enacted 
for a common effort to repel hostilities, and a general guar- 
antee to each prince of his possessions, an accommodation 
of all differences by the diet, and the- establishment of repre- 
sentative bodies in each state. This pacification was dis- 
turbed by the acts of the Belgians (a.d. 1830), which so 
disaffected the German states that they raised the arm of 
resistance against the Duke of Brunswick. The Poles were 
emboldened to a similar effort. Both were unsuccessful. 
On the death of Francis II. his son Ferdinand succeeded 
to the throne of Austria. Seconded by Prussia and Eussia, 
Austria destroyed in the germ the effort for independence 
made by the Poles in Posen, Cracow, Galicia, and as far 
as Moldavia; disposing of many of those unfortunate peo- 
ple by the most cruel and ignominious punishments (a.d. 
1846). The guiding spirit in these acts was Prince Met- 
ternich, a statesman of great learning and abilities. A rev- 
olution (a.d. 1848) compelled the sovereign to abdicate 
and brought his nephew to the throne, under the name of 
Francis Joseph I. Constitutional liberty would have been 
procured at this period had not the excesses of the insur- 
gents produced a reaction in favor of the monarch. Tak- 
ing advantage of this circumstance, the court of Vienna 
established its authority at home, destroyed the confeder- 
acy in Italy, and subdued the Hungarians by means of 



THE PRANKISH EMPIRE AND THE POWERS OF EUROPE. 251 

Russian aid; but the event of the war of 1866 between it 
and Prussia has destroyed its power oyer Germany. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

POWERS OF EUROPE CONNECTED WITH THE EMPIRE OF 

THE FRANKS. 

No single power of Europe had much weight in the 
affairs of its empires before the latter part of the fourteenth 
century. Many of them Were of little importance until a 
much later period. At the former time Margaret Walde- 
mar, daughter of the king of Denmark and widow of the 
last king of Norway, succeeded to the Danish throne. 
Shortly afterwards she was elected queen of Norway. The 
Swedes, oppressed by Albert of Mecklenburg, offered their 
sovereignty to her, and she marched to their aid, repelled 
Albert, and assumed the government. Resolved to render 
this union perpetual, Margaret assembled the states of the 
three kingdoms at Calmar (ad. 1397), where they decreed 
that Denmark, Sweden, and Norway should have but one 
and the same sovereign, who should be elected successively 
by each of the kingdoms, each nation retaining its own 
laws and the natives of one kingdom being ineligible to 
office or honor in another. The union did not long sur- 
vive the reign of Margaret. Eric, her successor, alienated 
the hearts of the Swedes by his partiality for the Danes. 
The former revolted under Charles Canuteson, their king; 
returned to their allegiance under Christian I. of Denmark; 
again revolted, and again renewed the union of Calmar 
under John, his successor. Revolting a third time, they 
•committed the administration to Stene Sture. The arch- 



252 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIKE AND PROPHECY. 

bishop of TTpsal, Gustavus Trolle, refused to acknowledge 
him. Obliged to surrender in his castle of Stecka, the 
bishop was degraded and deprived of all his benefices by 
the diet. The pope excommunicated Sture and commit- 
ted the execution of the bull to Christian II. of Denmark, 
the Nero of the North.* Worsted in battle, Christian 
offered to go in person to Stockholm to treat with Sture if 
the Swedes would give six hostages for his safety. Securing 
among the hostages G-ustavus Vasa, grand-nephew of King 
Canuteson, Christian immediately departed with the hos- 
tages to Denmark. The Dane invaded West Gothland 
with a more powerful army. Sture in his advance thither 
received a mortal wound; the Swedes dispersed. Chris- 
tian wasted the country with fire and sword, took the capi- 
tal, and was crowned king. 

The coronation was succeeded by a bloody tragedy. 
After Christian had sworn at the cathedral that he would 
govern Sweden not as a conqueror, but as if elected by the 
people, he invited the senators and nobility to a sumptuous 
feast which lasted three days. On the last day Trolle, 
reminding the king that, though he had pardoned all past 
offences, no satisfaction had been given to the pope, de- 
manded satisfaction in the name of his holiness. The hall 
was instantly filled with armed men, the guests secured, 
proceeded against as heretics, a scaffold erected, and 
ninety-four persons of rank, among whom was Eric Vasa, 
the father of the celebrated G-ustavus, publicly executed. 
Meantime Gustavus Yasa escaped from Denmark in very 
destitute circumstances and concealed himself among the 
mountains of Dalecarlia. To supply himself with bread, 
he entered among the miners and performed their daily 
toil. Making himself known at an annual feast, he roused 

* Geyer's His. of Sweden, ch. v. Rev. xiii. New Dis. xxv. p. 537. 



THE FRANKISH EMPIRE AND THE POWERS OP EUROPE. 253 

them to action. The governor's castle was taken, a severe 
retribution visited on the Danish garrison, and Gustavus 
proclaimed king of Sweden. Christian became unpopular 
with the Danes. Frederick Duke of Holstein, his uncle, 
was chosen in his place. Finding Gustavus firmly seated 
on the throne, the Danish sovereign abandoned all designs 
against Sweden. Frederick was succeeded by his son, 
Christian III., who, following the example of Gustavus, 
established the Protestant religion in his dominions. Upon 
the death of Gustavus Vasa his son Eric succeeded to the 
crown, from which he was deposed and his brother John 
elected king. An ineffectual effort to re-establish Catholi- 
cism marks the reign of this prince and that of his son, 
Sigismund. Charles IX., who headed the Lutheran party, 
was elected king and held the sceptre until his death. 
Gustavus Adolphus, his son, was declared his successor, 
though only eighteen years of age. He immediately signal- 
ized himself by heroic exploits against the Danes. In a 
war with Eussia he subdued nearly all Finland. The king 
of Poland refusing to acknowledge his title to the crown, 
he overran Livonia, Prussia, and Lithuania. Meantime 
Gustavus did not neglect the domestic concerns of Sweden. 
A truce of six years with Poland afforded the king time to 
turn his attention to the affairs of Germany. In addition 
to his attachment for the persecuted cause of Protestantism, 
Gustavus was induced to take up arms against the em- 
peror on account of his indignity to the Swedish ambas- 
sador, his assistance to the king of Poland, and his pro- 
ject of extending the imperial dominions over the Baltic. 
On the death of Gustavus Adolphus his daughter Chris- 
tiana became queen, under a regency of guardians. In ten 
years she resigned the crown. Charles Gustavus Duke of 
Deux-Ponts was elected to the royal dignity. Poland was 
conquered, Denmark invaded; but death removed the king 



254 OUTLIKE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

in the midst of the war, and the crown fell into the hands 
of his minor son. Charles XI. proved to be, like his 
father, a warrior. On his death his son, the twelfth of the 
same name, took the throne. Charles XII. had scarcely 
obtained the sceptre when he was assailed by an alliance 
between Poland, Denmark, and Kussia.* Losing no time, 
the king laid siege to Copenhagen. The Danes, unsuccess- 
ful in Holstein and assailed in their capital, were compelled 
to execute the treaty of Travendal. With eight thousand 
men Charles defeated eighty thousand Russians at Narva; 
triumphed over the Poles and Saxons at Riga; took Cour- 
land; subdued Lithuania; and elevated his favorite, Stanis- 
laus Leczinzki, to the throne of Poland. Elated by suc- 
cesses, the Swede replied to the request of the Eussian 
sovereign for peace, "I will treat at Moscow/' The sum- 
mit of power is often very near the depth of ruin. Shortly 
afterwards Charles was defeated by the Russians at Pultowa 
and was cast a fugitive among the Ottomans. After a vain 
attempt to involve the sultan and the Russians in hostili- 
ties, the Swedish monarch returned home, invaded Norway, 
and accidentally loss his life. 

Ulrica Elenora, sister of Charles XII. , was chosen queen, 
but relinquished the crown to her husband, the Prince of 
Hesse. Peace was restored by a treaty with the king of 
England as elector of Saxony, by which Bremen and Ver- 
dun were ceded to him for one million of rix-dollars; by 
another treaty with the king of Prussia, who gave Straus- 
land and the isle of Rugen and retained Stelin with the 
isles of Usdom and Wollin; and by a third treaty with the 
king of Denmark, who kept that part of the duchy of 
Sleswick conquered from the Duke of Holstein and sur- 

* Sinding's His. of Sweden, p. 330. Kol. Ger., ch. xxx. pp. 
418, 41& 



THE FRANKISH EMPIRE AND THE POWERS OF EUROPE. 255 

rendered Wismar on condition that the fortifications should 
not be rebuilt. On the death of Frederick, his son Gus- 
tavus III. took the throne. The kingdom was shaken by 
two parties, the Hats and the Caps. The former desired 
to abridge, the latter to enlarge, royal power. By turns 
the king courted the favor of each party, until, by gaining 
popularity with the military, he was able to enslave both 
and to establish a constitution conformable to his own in- 
terests. On his death, his son Gustavus IV. took the 
throne. After his deposition the Duke of Sudermania, 
Charles XIII., was elected. Charles XIII. dying, Bernar- 
dotte was elected to the crown through French influence. 
Oscar, the son of this monarch, succeeded to the sceptre on 
the death of his father: his son Charles is the present 
sovereign of Sweden and Norway. 

Notwithstanding the regal title of the sovereign of Prussia 
had been secured by the treaty of Utrecht, this kingdom 
did not acquire a commanding character until the reign of 
Frederick III., who is styled the Great. Maria Theresa 
determined to be repossessed of Lower Silesia, and, sus- 
tained by Eussia, Sweden, and France, declared war against 
the Prussian monarch. Frederick, strengthened by an 
alliance with England, overpowered the Austrians at Lowo- 
sitz and Reichenburg; but he was in turn defeated at Kol- 
lin and Grossjagerndorf. The victories of Rossbach and 
Leuthen placed the Prussians in possession of Breslaw, the 
principal city of Silesia. The triumph of Zorndorff saved 
Brandenburg from the Russians, and, though worsted at 
Hochkirch, Frederick entered Dresden in triumph. The 
enemy secured the possession of Silesia by the battle of 
Kiinersdorf, reduced Glatz, and threatened Brandenburg. 
Enraged by these calamities, Frederick fought and gained 
the battle of Liegnitz, thus preventing the junction of the 
Austrians and Russians, Notwithstanding this success^ 



256 OUTLIKE EVOLUTION OF EMPIEE AND PEOPHECY. 

the enemy mastered Berlin, the capital of Prussia. The 
affairs of Frederick were desperate. The gloom, however, 
was quickly dispelled by the victory of Torgau, which 
placed in the hands of the sovereign of Prussia Saxony, 
Oolberg, and Pomerania. Terms of peace were settled by 
the treaty of Hubertsburg (a.d. 1763), giving Silesia to 
Frederick and providing for a mutual restitution of con- 
quests. Frederick William II., the successor of Frederick 
the Great, though at first attentive to public concerns, 
proved to be the opposite of his uncle. His successor, the 
third of the same name, through his energy of character 
preserved his crown from the arms of Napoleon. The reign 
of Frederick William IV., his successor, was distinguished 
for the occurrence of those intrigues and agitations for 
German supremacy which culminated in the victory of 
Sadowa (1866) during the sway of his son William L and 
gave the prize to Prussia. The brilliant success of that 
monarch shortly afterwards (1870) in the war with France 
was followed by the reconstruction of the empire of Ger- 
many and the elevation of William to imperial power. 

Eussia had long been tributary to the Tartars. John 
Basilowitz, Grand Duke of Moscovy, threw off that yoke, 
expelled the Tartar officers from Moscow, invaded their 
territories, made himself master of Novogorod and Oasan, 
where he was crowned (a.d. 1470), assuming the title Czar, 
which signifies king or emperor. The grandson of John 
added to these conquests Astrachan and Siberia, and con- 
cluded a treaty of commerce with Queen Elizabeth of Eng- 
land. Boris, the minister of King Theodore, induced him 
to kill his brother Demetrius. Theodore is supposed to 
have been destroyed by Boris, who usurped the throne. A 
man appeared in Lithuania alleging that he was Prince 
Demetrius, and being assisted by a Polish army, entered 
Moscow and was proclaimed czar. Zuski, a nobleman, 



THE PRANKISH EMPIRE AND THE POWERS OF EUROPE. 257 

turned the current of popular feeling; Demetrius was slain, 
and the f actionist seated on the throne. Very soon a second 
and a third Demetrius appeared. Poland and Sweden took 
part in the contention; Zuski was delivered to the former, 
Demetrius massacred by the Tartars. Kussia was convulsed 
by the parties of a fourth and a fifth Demetrius, until 
Michael Romanow, son of the bishop of Kowtow, of the 
line of czars, being raised to the throne, concluded peace 
with Sweden and Poland and restored tranquillity to Russia. 
Four reigns transpired, when appeared upon the throne 
Peter the Great, one of the most distinguished princes of 
ancient or modern times. For the purpose of improving 
the condition of his people the czar left his dominions in 
disguise, and during an absence of two years visited Ger- 
many, England, and Holland, where he was seen as a pupil 
in various departments of art and science.* After the con- 
clusion of the war with Charles XII. of Sweden Peter as- 
sumed the title of emperor, which was acknowledged by 
the powers of Europe. Marching into Persia, the emperor 
restored Shah Thamas to his throne; receiving in return for 
his services the provinces on the Caspian Sea which an- 
ciently constituted a portion of the Median kingdom. 
Manufactures of every description were encouraged by 
introducing into the empire artists and men of science 
from France, England, and the Low Countries. On the 
death of Peter, Catharine, his widow, took the sceptre. A 
war with the Porte was concluded in two years without any 
material alteration in the state of affairs. On the death of 
Catharine, the sceptre fell successively into the hands of 
Peter II., Anne, John, Elizabeth, and Peter III., none of 
whom possessed the talents of their ancestor Peter the Great, 
and the last of whom was deposed by the chief estates of the 

*Mod. Europe, Vols. V., VI. Lar. Out., pp. 319-326. 



258 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

empire and his wife Catharine was entrusted with supreme 
power. Catharine II. reversed the policy of her husband, 
restored to the clergy their revenues, and pursued such a 
course as secured the affections of her subjects. The con- 
duct of Catharine in relation to Poland, though it extended 
the limits of her empire, did not enhance her honor. Upon 
the death of Augustus II. the empress caused Stanislaus 
Poniatowski to be elected king of that country. Religious 
disputes at this time ran high in Poland between the Eoman 
Catholics and the Christians of the Greek Church. The 
latter invoked the aid of Catharine, by whose intrigues a 
civil war was fomented. The Eussians participated in this 
broil, and in the pursuit of a Polish party trespassed on 
Ottoman territory, burned Balta, and committed such out- 
rages as produced a declaration of war by the sultan. Dur- 
ing the first year of this contest the Ottomans were twice 
defeated. The Russians took Bender, were victorious in 
Moldavia, and in conjunction with the British despoiled 
the Ottoman fleet at Scio. Poland was dismembered. 
Frederick took Polish Prussia; Catharine, Lithuania ; 
Maria Theresa, such portion as only left the natives War- 
saw, Cracow, and the country extending from Silesia in the 
west to the river Berezina in the east, from Samogita in 
the north to the palatine of Chelm in the south and to the 
Black Porest in the southeast. Peace was concluded with 
the Porte by the treaty of Kainargi. Russia obtained the 
navigation of the Euxine and other seas claimed by them, 
with a proviso of being allowed only one armed vessel at a 
time in the Constantinopolitan seas, as also Azoph, Ta- 
ganroh, Kerch, Jenickala, Kinburn, and the territory be- 
tween the Bog and Nieper, with four millions and a half 
of roubles for the expenses of the war and a cessation of 
the dependence of the Crimea on the Ottoman Empire. 
The empress turned her attention to the formation of a 



THE PRANKISH EMPIRE AND THE POWERS OP EUROPE. 259 

new code of laws and the amelioration of the condition of 
her subjects. Another war, however, occurred with the 
Ottomans, which was soon concluded by the treaty of 
Yassi. The Niester was determined as the boundary be- 
tween the two empires; the privileges of Wallachia and 
Moldavia were confirmed; their inhabitants freed from 
taxes for two years; the government of Georgia guaranteed 
by the Porte; and the sultan agreed to check the piratical 
outrages of Barbary. Meantime Poland had adopted a 
new constitution by which the crown was confined to the 
house of Saxony, the king's power extended, the nobles 
circumscribed, the middle classes rendered more respect- 
able, and the peasantry brought under the protection of 
the laws. The diet resolved to augment the army to sixty 
thousand men. Catharine declared war against the Poles 
(a.d. 1792). Thaddeus Kosciusko and Joseph Poniatowski 
made a bold stand against their enemies, but were even- 
tually overpowered. Catharine and Frederick ordered the 
seizure of all the territory between the Dwina and Mester. 
The Eussian troops commenced the execution of the com- 
mand by compelling the Poles to take an oath of allegiance 
to the empress or to leave the country. The Prussians 
conducted a similar spoliation in several provinces, as well 
as in Dantzic and Thorn. Four Poles, at the head of 
whom was Kosciusko, entered into an agreement to make 
a last effort for their downtrodden country. It was un- 
successful ; Warsaw was reduced and Poland divided be- 
tween Eussia, Prussia, and Austria. The share of the 
empress extended to the centre of Poland; that of Prussia 
embraced Warsaw and other considerable towns; that of 
Austria, Cracow, Chelm, Lublin, and other territories. 
The estates of many patriots were confiscated; Kosciusko 
was imprisoned, and Stanislaus was deprived of his crown. 
Not long after these events Catharine was found dead in 



260 OUTLINE EVOLUTION" OF EMPIEE AND PROPHECY. 

her room without any appearance of violence or poison 
about her person. Paul, her son, succeeded to the throne. 
Kosciusko and some Polish patriots were released. The 
reign, though begun well, was soon terminated by the 
murder of the emperor. Alexander, his son, promising 
to administer the government according to the policy of 
his grandmother, Catharine II., came to the throne. 
Many wise domestic regulations were established. England 
was appeased by yielding to it the right of search. A dis- 
position not equally submissive to the policy of France 
involved the emperor in the contests of Napoleon. Nicho- 
las, the brother of Alexander, though not the legal heir, 
succeeded him on the throne. A Turkish war resulted in 
the loss of Adrianople and the humiliation of the sultan. 
The Poles were crushed in every effort for liberty. * The 
Caucasians, more successful for years, were equally unfortu- 
nate in the subsequent reign of Alexander the son of Nicho- 
las. Demanding additional privileges for the Greek Chris- 
tian subjects of the sultan, f the emperor seized on Wallachia 
and Moldavia (a.d. 1853). War followed between the em- 
pires. Though successful in the naval engagement at Sinope, 
the emperor's forces were repulsed by those of the sultan at 
Tortukai, Citali, Bessarabia, Kalifat, Hirsova, and Silistria. 
England and France, regarding the conduct of Nicholas as 
an aggression on the rights of the Porte, soon became 
parties to the contest. Their forces penetrated the Baltic 
without much effect, but entering the Euxine laid siege to 
Sebastopol, which, after a bloody struggle of about fourteen 
months, was taken and peace restored. The heroic con- 
flict which had been waged for centuries in Spain and 
Portugal against the Mahometans gradually diminished 
the power of the infidels. The total overthrow of the 

* Sterling's Nick. f Proclamations of Nick. I. 



THE FRANKISH EMPIRE AND THE POWERS OF EUROPE. 261 

enemy was not effected until the reign of Ferdinand and 
Isabella. Free from intestine commotions, the sovereigns 
established the prompt administration of justice throughout 
their dominions. The bold enterprise of Christopher 
Columbus found its first patrons at the court of Spain. It 
is a melancholy fact that in the same place was created the 
most destructive instrument to religious liberty, the Inqui- 
sition. Joan, the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella, was 
married to Philip Archduke of Austria and sovereign of 
the Netherlands. Charles, the issue of this union, took the 
sceptre on the death of his grand -parents. When elected 
emperor he resigned it to his son Philip II.* The king's 
devotion to Catholicism was so great that he spent twenty 
years in building a church, a monastery, and a palace near 
Madrid called the Escurial. The crown of Portugal was 
won by the arms of Philip II. A wholesale destruction of 
Protestants took place wherever he had power to effect it. 
His principal agent in this work in the Netherlands was 
the Duke of Alva. This course of conduct gave rise, in 
1580, to the union of Holland, Zealand, Urecht, Friesland, 
Groningen, Overyssel, and Guelderland. William Prince 
of Orange was the chief instrument in its formation. 
These states made an offer of their sovereignty to Elizabeth 
Queen of England. The queen declining, it was conferred 
on the Duke of Anjou. The duke was soon forced to re- 
tire, which left the contest for freedom to be managed by 
the Prince of Orange against the Duke of Parma, charged 
with the Spanish interests. The prince fell by the hand 
of an assassin. Maurice, his son, was elected stadtholder 
by Holland and Zealand. Parma overpowered Antwerp. 
This dreadful blow would have ruined the union had not 



*Prescott's Fer. and Is. Robertson's Chas. V. Watson's Phil. 
Rus. Mod. En., Vol. III. Let., 69. Rev. xiii. 



262 OUTLIKE EVOLUTION OF EMPIKE AND PKOPHECY. 

Elizabeth assisted it with men and money. Maurice took 
Breda, Gertrudenburg, and Groningen. On the death of 
Philip II. the crown of Spain devolved on his son, Philip 
III., and the sovereignty of the states on Albert of Austria, 
husband to Isabella, the Spanish princess. Refusing to 
acknowledge the authority of Albert, the states suffered 
the utter extinction of their trade wherever Spain held 
power. Great as was this loss, it was amply compensated 
by the success of the states in the East Indies, and at home 
they were finally prosperous, defeating the Spanish at 
Newport and mastering Eimbach, Grave, and Sluys. A 
truce was concluded with the states for twelve years (1609) 
which secured to them all their acquisitions, the freedom 
of commerce, and the enjoyment of religious liberty. 

The states became a scene of religious contention. The 
parties of Gomar and Arminius were respectively headed 
by Maurice and the pensionary Barn e veldt. The latter fell 
under public censure and was executed. On the conclu- 
sion of the truce Spinola laid siege to Bergenopzoom, but 
was compelled to relinquish it by Maurice. Breda, how- 
ever, yielded to his arms. Prince Maurice died at this 
period. Large supplies were received from Erance and 
England. Frederick Henry Prince of Orange succeeded 
as stadtholder. The general war which pervaded Europe 
merged the conflict between Spain and the provinces. The 
independence of the states was eventually established. 
From the death of William II. the government remained 
in the hands of the republican party, the soul of which was 
Be Witt. A furious naval war took place with England. 
It was settled by the treaty of Breda, which secured to the 
Dutch many English settlements on the African coast, 
Surinam, and Pelerone. During forty-five years the house 
of Orange was out of power; when, alarmed by the progress 
of France, the states appointed William IV., Prince of 



the frankish empire and the powers of Europe. 263 

Orange, stadtholder, captain-general, and admiral-in-chief 
of all the United Provinces. The dreaded evils, however, 
were obviated by the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. Prince 
William V. was declared stadtholder on arriving at eighteen 
years of age. William married the niece of the king of 
Prussia. This reign was prosperous and happy for many 
years. After the disturbances with England popular dis- 
affection gradually pervaded the provinces. William re- 
tired from power, but through the intrigues of England 
and the arms of Prussia he was restored. A second abdi- 
cation was not attended with similar success. A new con- 
stitution was adopted. The supreme power was vested in 
a pensionary and an assembly of nineteen members nomi- 
nated by the administrating authorities of the eight depart- 
ments; the term of the pensionary fixed at five years; 
declarations of war and treaties subjected to a vote of 
the deputies, whose meetings were to be semi annual or 
oftener upon special convocation of the pensionary. 
French influence effected its object in the provinces. The 
deputies requested Napoleon to create his brother king; the 
pensionary resigned; and Louis assumed the royal func- 
tions. After the fall of Bonaparte, William Prince of 
Orange was recalled and proclaimed sovereign of the 
United Netherlands. The congress of Vienna not only 
confirmed to William his former power, but attached to 
his kingdom the provinces which had been subject to the 
house of Burgundy. This union, designed as a barrier to 
French ambition, became a source of bitter contention in 
consequence of the difference in religion, manners, and 
language between the two kingdoms. A dread of foreign 
interference prevented the Belgians from throwing off the 
Dutch yoke. The French revolution relieving them from 
fear, they proclaimed their independence and conferred 
their sovereignty upon Leopold, who married the daughter 



264c OUTLIKE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

of Louis Philippe. The interference of France decided the 
contest between Belgium and William as to the ownership 
of Luxemburg in favor of the former. 

The great objects of the reign of Philip III. were the 
extinction of the descendants of the Moors, the support of 
the Catholic League, and the establishment of the Spanish 
branch of the house of Austria. On the king's death, his 
son, Philip IV., was crowned. Olivarez, his minister, 
made him take the title of Great and was determined that 
the reign should justify the assumption. His success was not 
equal to his expectations. Portugal became independent 
and elevated the Duke of Braganza to the throne under 
the title of John IV. Charles II. was the heir of Philip IV. 
Being a minor, his mother assumed the regency. Spain was 
reduced to a wretched condition by the wars of Louis XIV. 
The Portuguese adhered to the Grand Alliance throughout 
the contests. Philip V. was scarcely possessed of regal 
dignity before his minister, Alberoni, persuaded him that 
his renunciation of the French crown was not binding. 
The Quadruple Alliance, however, soon ended this doctrine. 
Philip V. was succeeded on the throne by his son, Ferdi- 
nand VI., who managed during his short reign to avoid 
interference in the wars which distracted Europe. His 
successor and brother, Charles III., was not equally fortu- 
nate. The affairs of Spain were thrown into commotion 
by the Marquis de Squillac, the minister of Charles, who 
in his war on flapped hats and long cloaks created a serious 
riot which was only quelled by his dismission, the repeal 
of the monopoly of provisions, and finally the exile of the 
Jesuits. The minister of Portugal in like manner incurred 
public censure by his exertions to free the kingdom from 
its dependence on England. The death of the king, Joseph, 
and the succession of his daughter Maria produced the 
dismissal of the minister, and with it a peace. Charles 



THE FRAN"KISH EMPIRE AND THE POWERS OP EUROPE. 265 

persevered in his efforts to improve the condition of Spain 
notwithstanding the attempts of the pope to impede his 
progress. The queen of Portugal pursued a similar policy 
in her dominions. Ferdinand III., son of Charles III., 
being restored after the fall of Napoleon, stigmatized the 
existing cortes, restrained the press, imprisoned many in- 
dividuals of high rank upon groundless charges, and was 
guilty of other oppressive acts which disaffected the nation. 
The royal tyranny induced the troops raised to subdue the 
revolted American colonies to refuse to perform that task 
A new constitution was conceded. Similar reform move- 
ments occurred in Portugal, Naples, and Piedmont, which 
were crushed in the last two places by Austrian influence. 

The determination on the part of the sovereigns of 
Europe to check the progress of liberal views induced 
them to form the congress of Verona (a.d. 1824), where 
it was resolved to establish Ferdinand in Spain. In pur- 
suance of this determination, French forces under the 
Duke of Angouleme, marching into that country, compelled 
the constitutionalists to submit. The king, thus restored to 
despotic power, revived in their most appalling forms those 
institutions which had long disgraced the government of 
Spain. On the death of John VI., king of Portugal, the 
succession to the crown devolved upon Dom Pedro, who 
resided in Brazil. Satisfied with his condition, he declined 
in favor of his daughter Donna Maria, the betrothed of his 
brother Don Miguel. A strong party desired the elevation 
of Don Miguel. England interfering, he was created re- 
gent; but he soon abrogated the constitution and usurped 
the crown. The young queen fled to England, and thence 
to her father's court at Eio Janeiro. Her cause was even- 
tually triumphant. At her death Lewis, her son, came to 
the throne. Dom Pedro now reigns. Similar troubles 
occurred in Spain on the death of Ferdinand VII. ; the 



266 OUTLIKE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AKD PROPHECY. 

succession of his daughter Isabella being contested by his 
brother Don Carlos. The result was the same as in Portu- 
gal; but the queen eventually became unpopular and was 
expelled from the throne (1868). She was succeeded by 
Amadeus, son of Victor Emanuel (1871), who shortly after- 
wards resigned, and a republic was created with Castelar at 
its head ; but falling into disrepute in consequence of the 
way of managing affairs with the United States in regard 
to the Virginius, he gaye place to Serrano.* Alfonso 
XII., son of ex- Queen Isabella, came to the throne, and 
proving successful in the struggle with his kinsman Don 
Carlos, was firmly established in power (1876). 

The kingdom of Denmark, besides its possessions in St. 
Croix and St. John, St. Thomas and Guinea, Tranquebar 
and Serampore, Iceland, the Faroe Isles and Greenland* 
consists of Zealand and Eunen on the Baltic, the peninsula 
of Jutland, and the duchies Sleswick, Holstein, and Lauen- 
burg. The last countries being German have a member in 
the diet of that confederacy. The new constitution, by 
establishing the unity of the kingdom, interfered with the 
prospects of the Lauenburg house for the crown. The 
duchies being sustained in their opposition to this change 
in affairs by the Germans, the Danes by Nicholas the 
Russian emperor, father-in-law to the head of the Lauen- 
burg house, a troublesome war would have succeeded had 
not the interference of other powers procured a settlement. f 

Switzerland contains twenty- two cantons or states. Each 
canton manages its own domestic concerns. A congress 
composed of members from each canton is entrusted with 
the direction of foreign relations, making war and peace, 
raising armies, forming treaties, contracting alliances, and 
regulating commerce. The sessions of this body are suc- 

* Public Des., Dec. 31, 1874. f Sterling's Life of Nicholas. 



THE FRANKISH EMPIRE AND THE POWERS OF EUROPE. 267 

cessively held in Berne, Zurich, and Lucerne. A deadly 
blow was aimed at the privileged orders by the reform 
party. The aristocracy, thinking in the course of time to 
produce a change in their favor, procured the settlement 
of Jesuitical instructors at Lucerne. The reformers, how- 
ever, gaining a majority in the national council, directed 
Lucerne to expel the Jesuits. The Catholic cantons leagued 
together against this measure. A dissolution of the union 
being demanded by the diet and refused by the cantons, 
war ensued (a.d. 1848). The army of the union was de- 
feated and peace restored.* 

Italy south of the papal dominions, with Sicily, formed 
the kingdom of the Two Sicilies. After the restoration of 
the monarch Ferdinand I. by the allied powers, his sub- 
jects were offended by the rejection of a constitution (1818). 
A political organization at Naples called the Carbonari en- 
sued, the object of which was the formation of a popular 
legislature to control the powers of the king. A constitu- 
tion was formed two years afterwards which continued to 
exist some months, when it was overthrown by an Austrian 
army and the king reinstated in absolute power. A con- 
stitutional monarchy (1848) was created after a bloody 
struggle by the populace. Upon the death of Ferdinand 
his son Francis II. came to the throne (1859), but his 
power being subverted by his own cruelties and the bravery 
of Garibaldi, his dominions form a portion of the Italian 
kingdom, f 

The papal dominions, which stretch across Italy imme- 
diately to the north of the Sicilian kingdom, are governed 
by the pope and cardinals. Popular power was triumphant 
over this territory in 1848. A constitution was adopted. 
Two councils for the formation of laws were created, the 

* Gazette eo die. f D wight's Life of Garibaldi. 



268 OUTLIKE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

one styled the high council, the other the council of depu- 
ties; the judiciary rendered independent; extraordinary 
courts interdicted; the national guards placed under the 
sole direction of the state. Pius IX. acquiesced for a short 
time, but escaping to Gaeta he procured aid of France, 
by which the republic was crushed.* 

The Austrian dominions north of the Papal States, for- 
merly governed by two congregations, one held at Venice, 
the other at Milan, and by provincial congregations in each 
department, after the victory of Solferino became a portion 
of the Sardinian monarch's dominions (1859). 

Sardinia, Piedmont, and Savoy are the principal states 
which constitute the kingdom of Sardinia. A constitution 
was proclaimed (a.d. 1848). The cause of free institutions 
appeared to be triumphant. Pope, princes, people were 
united in its promotion. But the Austrians set themselves 
in motion. Intimidation and bribery divided the con- 
federacy. Charles Albert, the king of Sardinia, was left 
alone to bear the weight of the contest; overwhelmed in 
battle; forced to abdicate, and his son Victor Emanuel 
placed on the throne. The son was more fortunate than 
his father. Through French intervention he succeeded in 
repelling (1859) the Austrian powers, and accomplished 
the liberation of all the northern Italian states, except 
those of Venetia, from the dominion of their old oppressor. 
After the war between Austria and Prussia, Venetia fell 
into his hands, f Finally he made the Papal States a por- 
tion of his kingdom, and Eome became his capital (1871). J 

And thus has papal, persecuting Eome, with garments 
dyed in the blood of countless martyrs in Spain, France, 
Italy, Piedmont, Bohemia, the Low Countries, Germany, 
Sweden, England, Scotland, and America, been shorn of 

* Gazette. f Prussia, ante. % Procl. of king. 



THE ANGLO-SAXON EMPIRE TO FALL OF RICHARD II. 269 

its power over the rack and fagot as instruments in extend- 
ing its authority, and compelled to confine itself in that 
work to the means used by other religious sects in pro- 
moting their interests*— a fact predicted eighteen centuries 
ago by the prophet of Patmos. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

THE EMPIEE OF THE ANGLO-SAXONS TO THE FALL OF 

RICHARD II. 

As the power of the Romans was extinguished in 
Britain, the natives were scourged by the invasions of the 
Picts and Scots, f Obtaining the assistance of the Saxons, 
the Britons defeated their enemies at Stamford. Disap- 
pointed in the demand on their allies for provisions, the 
Saxons joined the Picts and Scots. Years of war ensued. 
The Britons commanded by Arthur, prince of Silures, 
were at last triumphant at Badon Hill. Though beaten 
in battle, the Saxons so augmented their numbers in the 
course of time, by the arrival of Angles and other German 
tribes, that the Britons were compelled to retire to Corn- 
wall and Wales. In the southern portion of the island 
seven separate kingdoms were formed, denominated Kent, 
Sussex, Wessex, Essex, Mercia, East Anglia, and North- 
umberland. Eventually the heptarchy was united under 
one king — Egbert of Wessex. The kingdom was now de- 
nominated England. Danish invasions occupied the reign 
of the king. Defeated at Charmouth, the Danes made 



* Chap. V., ante. Rev. xiv. 6-8. 
fHume, Vol. I. ch. xvii. Rus., Vol. I. 



270 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIEE AND PROPHECY. 



good their retreat. Forming an alliance with the Britons 
of Cornwall, they soon returned to England in greater 
numbers. The battle of Hengesdown followed, where 
Egbert was triumphant. The king did not long survive 
his victory. Ethelwolf, the son of the deceased monarch, 
came to the throne. Though overcome in repeated en- 
gagements, the Danes continued to spread havoc over the 
land during the time of this king and that of his sons 
Ethelbald, Ethelbert, and Ethelred. 

Alfred, the fourth son of- Ethelwolf, came to the throne 
at twenty years of age. Kind to a fault, the king, though 
he had his foes at his feet, stipulated for their safe retreat. 
The treacherous Danes deceived their benefactors, rallied 
in vast numbers, and commenced the work of destruction. 
Alfred again defeated them in successive battles, and again 
allowed them the privilege they had abused. Once more 
the king was deceived. The enemy became so powerful 
that the disheartened English refused to listen to Alfred; 
some submitting to the invaders, others leaving the coun- 
try. Deserted by his countrymen, Alfred retired from 
public life, and was supposed dead by the Danes. In the 
space of a few months the king was so much encouraged 
by the success of his friends, as well as by the presumptuous 
confidence of the Danes, that he assailed the foe at Edding- 
ton, gained a complete victory; allowing none to remain in 
the country who did not submit to his authority, embrace 
Catholicity, and settle in Northumberland or East Anglia. 
The founder of the Anglo-Saxon power being firmly seated 
on the throne, turned his attention toward the civil and 
military institutions of the realm. Kuined cities were re- 
built; regular forces established in every district; fortresses 
erected at convenient points; a fleet of one hundred and 
twenty ships stationed on the coast; the kingdom divided 
into counties, the counties into hundreds, the hundreds 



THE ANGLO-SAXOJS" EMPIKE TO FALL OE EICHAED II. 271 

into tythings. Every householder was made responsible 
for the conduct of his family, his slaves, and his guests 
who had been with him three days. All persons were 
bound to register themselves in a tything. A change of 
habitation was not allowed without warrant and certificate. 
Although the trial by jury had been practised among the 
Saxons before their settlement in Britain, yet to Alfred is 
to be attributed that remarkable feature in it, a unanimity 
among the jurors. A code of laws was enacted; schools of 
learning were founded; the University of Oxford largely 
endowed; men of science invited from all parts of Europe 
to settle in England; commerce and the arts encouraged by 
generous rewards. This illustrious hero died at the vigor- 
ous age of fifty-three. Edward, his son, took the throne. 
What the father had established the son maintained, 
though assailed by his contentious brother and oppressed 
by the Danes all his life. Athelstan, his natural son, suc- 
ceeded to the sceptre. In order to quell the disturbances 
in Northumberland, the king conferred on Sithric, a 
Danish nobleman, the title of king, and married him to 
his sister Editha. After their father's death, his two sons 
claimed the sovereignty. Overcome by the king, one fled 
to Ireland, the other to Scotland. Pretending he would 
surrender the fugitive, the Scottish king induced him to 
escape. Athelstan, in revenge, invaded Scotland and se- 
verely punished its monarch. The English sovereign 
afterwards defeated at Brunsbury the combined army of 
Scots, Welsh, and Danes. The short reign of Edmund 
was terminated by the hand of an assassin. Edred was 
created sovereign. The Northumbrians were curbed by 
the establishment of garrisons in their county. Conten- 
tions between the new order of monks created by Dunstan, 
abbot of G-lastenbury, and the secular clergy distracted 
the kingdom. Edwy, the son of Edmund, succeeded to 



272 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

the throne. Incurring the displeasure of the rigid Dun- 
stan, the king was eventually deposed. Edgar, his 
brother, was raised to his throne at the age of thirteen. 
The reign of Edgar was remarkably fortunate. The frac- 
tious Northumbrians were awed, England preserved from 
the incursions of the Danes by the creation of a powerful 
navy, the submission of Wales, Scotland, and Ireland 
effected. On the death of the king, his son Edward came 
to power; but being soon murdered by the connivance of 
his stepmother, her son Ethelred was advanced to the 
sovereignty. Bribing the Danes to leave the kingdom, 
Ethelred, on their return, caused a general massacre. 
Sweyn, king of Denmark, whose sister had been murdered, 
breathing vengeance for the outrage, landed at the head 
of a powerful army, and desolated the kingdom with fire 
and sword. The king of England, betrayed by the gov- 
ernor of Mercia, fled to Normandy. On the death of 
Sweyn, soon afterwards, he returned. Canute, the son and 
successor of Sweyn, was as terrific to the English as his 
father. Ethelred assembled an army: the revolt of his 
commanders left his cause hopeless, and he died in the 
midst of the war. Edmond, the son of the last king, 
succeeded to the throne. Losing the battle of Assington, 
the king was compelled by his subjects to sign a treaty by 
which the kingdom was divided between him and Canute; 
the former taking the southern portion, and the latter the 
northern part, composed of Mercia, East Anglia, and 
Northumberland. Edmond was murdered soon after this 
settlement. Canute became sole sovereign of England; 
fortified his title by purchasing the favor of the nobles ; re- 
warded his Danish favorites, and removed the young 
princes from the realm. The dread of Ethelred's sons 
succeeding to the throne was removed by the marriage of 
their mother to Canute. Sweden was invaded, Norway 



THE ANGLO-SAXO^" EMPIEE TO FALL OF RICHARD II. 273 

mastered. The king from this period looked on the re- 
wards of ambition with contempt, employing his time in 
rearing churches, endowing monasteries, causing prayers 
to be said for those who had been killed in battle against 
him, and in what, according to the spirit of that age, was 
more meritorious than all beside, in performing a pilgrim- 
age to Eome. Soon after his return he reduced Malcolm, 
king of Scotland. Harold, a son of Canute by his first 
wife, took the sceptre of his father. Death removing the 
king in a short time, as well as his successor and brother 
Hardicanute, Edward, surnamed the Confessor, son of 
Ethelred, was recalled, and the Danish yoke forever 
broken. Notwithstanding the commotions of Earl God- 
win, who wished to raise his son Harold to the throne, and 
the death of the Duke of Northumberland, the great prop 
of the king, Edward matured and gave to his kingdom a 
body of laws which has perpetuated his fame. On the 
death of the Confessor, Harold assumed the crown, and 
defeated the Danes at Stamford. 

William Duke of Normandy laid claim to the throne of 
England. The title of the duke rested on the pretended be- 
quest of Edward the Confessor, as well as the oath of Harold 
to support his rival. Harold denied the bequest; declared 
the oath was extorted by dread of violence, and proclaimed 
that the same moment should put a period to his life and 
his sway. William was triumphant at Hastings; marched 
immediately towards London; was acknowledged by the 
nobility and clergy; and crowned at Westminster Abbey, 
taking the usual oath administered to the Saxon kings. 
The estates and honors of the nobility were confirmed; the 
franchises and liberties of London and other cities secured; 
but all real power was placed in the hands of the Normans, 
among whom were portioned the possessions of the deceased 
Harold and his active adherents. The king, either for the 



274 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

purpose of display or to provoke the English to resistance 
by subjecting them to the outrages of the army, left the 
country on a visit to Normandy. Insurrectionary move- 
ments occurred which were suppressed by the monarch. 
A full measure of vengeance was poured out upon the 
humbled natives. The country between the Humber and 
Tees for sixty miles was laid waste. Upwards of one hun- 
dred thousand English subjects are calculated to have per- 
ished. The estates of the principal landholders were con- 
fiscated and bestowed on Norman favorites. The kingdom, 
except the royal domain, was divided into baronies, reserv- 
ing stated services and payments to the king. The barons 
parcelled their allotments to knights or vassals, who owed 
the same kind of duty to their lord in peace and war as he 
was under to the king. None but Normans were admitted 
to the first rank. The church underwent a revolution 
which placed William at its head; but so dutiful was he to 
the pope that he would not permit any man in his power 
' ' to buy or sell " anything whom he found disobedient to 
the Apostolic See.* English nationality was assailed by 
introducing the French language into judicial proceedings 
and fashionable society. Eoberfc, the son of the king, 
created trouble by aspiring to the sovereignty of Main and 
Normandy. An English army reduced him to submission. 
A joke of the French king at the corpulence of William 
involved both countries in war. • The English monarch 
invaded the Isle of France, and in the midst of successful 
military operations accidentally lost his life. William II. 
succeeded to the throne of England; Eobert took Nor- 
mandy; and Henry obtained his mother's possessions. En- 
deavors by Eobert to disturb this division produced the 
invasion of Normandy and the duke's submission. The 

* Rev. xiii., xvii. New. Dis., xxv. p. 547. 



THE ANGLO-SAXON EMPIRE TO FALL OF RICHARD II. 275 

Scots and Welsh were humbled; a conspiracy to elevate to 
the throne Stephen Count of Aumale, nephew of the Con- 
queror, was crushed. The king took no part in the cru- 
sades, but he advanced money to his brother Eobert for 
that purpose. William II. while hunting was accidentally 
killed by Walter Tyrrel, a French gentleman. Henry seized 
the crown in fraud of Robert's rights; confirmed the laws of 
Edward the Confessor, and did many other popular acts. 
Notwithstanding, a war would have arisen but for the in- 
tervention of Anselm, archbishop of Canterbury. A set- 
tlement followed by which Robert resigned his pretensions 
to England on the payment of an annual pension of three 
thousand marks; it being further stipulated that on the 
death of either of the princes without issue the survivor 
should succeed to his dominions, that the adherents of each 
should be pardoned and restored to all their possessions, 
and that neither should thenceforth countenance the ene- 
mies of the other. Henry soon violated these terms by 
persecuting the friends of Robert. The duke appeared as 
their avenger, but was compelled to purchase peace by the 
surrender of his pension. Normandy was finally subdued 
by Henry, and Robert made a prisoner in England during 
life. 

Stephen Count of Boulogne, the grandson of the Con- 
queror, took the crown on the death of Henry, in defiance 
of the claim of Matilda, his daughter and heiress. Civil 
war followed, which, though bloody, did not terminate the 
sway of the usurper. Henry, the son of Matilda by Geof- 
frey Plantagenet, secured the succession to the crown on 
the death of Stephen. Courts of justice were reformed; 
crimes suppressed; the charter of Henry I. confirmed; a 
war with France about Toulouse successfully terminated; 
foreign improvements in art and science, laws and litera- 
ture, introduced. The great curse of England was the ex- 



276 OUTLIKE EVOLUTION OF EMPIKE AND PKOPHECY. 

orbitant revenues of the ecclesiastics. A civil officer was 
appointed to preside at the courts of the clergy. The 
churchmen denied their responsibility to the civil power, 
thus affording a screen to the most notorious offenders. In 
order to effect a thorough reformation of abuses Henry II. 
appointed his chancellor, Thomas a Becket, to the see of 
Canterbury. No sooner was he elevated to power, than 
Thomas avowed himself the champion of the church. De- 
termined to subject ecclesiastics to the civil power, the king 
finally procured from a convocation of bishops the consti- 
tutions of Clarendon. The pope rejected the constitutions 
and Becket was triumphant. To humble the prelate, the 
king required him to account for his administration when 
chancellor. Becket, appealing to Eome, fled to France. 
Dreading the vengeance of the pope, i( who could speak 
great things," Henry permitted the fugitive to return to 
England.* Again triumphant, the prelate excommuni- 
cated the bishops of London and Salisbury because they 
had assisted at the coronation of Prince Henry in his ab- 
sence. When this act was made known to the king in 
Normandy he exclaimed against his servants, whose want of 
zeal had so long exposed him to the insolence of the imperi- 
ous priest. Four gentlemen immediately repaired to Can- 
terbury, and on his refusal to restore the bishops to their 
functions they despatched Becket while at evening service. 
Upon the king's disavowal of any agency in the act, allow- 
ance of appeals to Eome, and promise of personal service 
for three years in Spain or Palestine against the infidels, 
the pope was appeased. The favor of the English clergy 
was not so easily obtained. Nothing short of Henry's pil- 
grimage barefoot to the tomb of Becket and the scourging 
of his bare back by the lashes of the priests could secure 

* Rev. xiii. 5, 



THE ANGLO-SAXOK EMPIRE TO FALL OF RICHARD II. 277 

their smile. Though Ireland was annexed to England, 
Poitou, G-uienne, Anjou, and Normandy were severed from 
it by the sons of the monarch. 

Richard, whose heroism in the holy wars had won golden 
opinions, succeeded his father, Henry II. Detained a 
prisoner by the emperor, his liberation was purchased by 
the payment of one hundred and fifty thousand marks of 
pure silver. Shortly after his return home the king was 
killed in the war which was about terminating between his 
kingdom and France. John took the throne. The murder 
of Arthur Duke of Britanny, the son of his elder brother, 
justly launched on him the wrath of France. The pope's 
indignation was roused by the conduct of the king in the 
election of the archbishop of Canterbury. Interdict and 
excommunication soon followed.* The fury of Eome was 
allayed by the agreement of John to hold his kingdom as a 
fief of Rome. Disgusted and oppressed, the barons armed 
against the monarch and wrung from him at Runnymede 
the great charter of rights. John soon broke his oath, 
appealed to arms and ravaged the country from Dover to 
Berwick. The crown was offered to the eldest son of the 
king of France, who enjoyed but a short popularity in con- 
sequence of his attachment to his countrymen. After the 
death of John, his son, Henry III., was acknowledged 
sovereign under the protectorship of the Earl of Pembroke. 
The moderation of the protector restored peace to the 
nation. Such was the prodigality of Henry on attaining 
full age, that he involved his realm in the expenses of a 
war with France and Sicily without any prospect of public 
advantage. A train of disasters ensued which resulted in 
the provisions of Oxford, by which twenty-four barons 
were authorized to reform the kingdom. The Earl of Lei- 



*Hu. Eng., Vol. I. pp. 455, 456. Rev. xiii. 16, 17. 



2?8 OUTLIKE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PBOPHECT. 

cester was placed at the head of the commission. Knights 
were appointed in each county to make report of grievances 
to parliament. Leicester and his associates sought to per- 
petuate their power. The pope absolved Henry from his 
oath to observe the provisions, and he assumed the royal 
functions. The earl appealed to arms, triumphed at Lewes, 
took Henry and his son prisoners, and convoked a parlia- 
ment in which the representatives of boroughs were ad- 
mitted to seats: thus did political craft prove the origin of 
the choicest feature in the British constitution. Leicester 
again ruined his cause by severity to the Earl of Derby. 
Prince Edward escaped from imprisonment, rallied his 
friends, triumphed at Evesham (where Leicester was 
slain), and restored his father to power. Edward suc- 
ceeded his father on the throne. The provisions of the 
great charter were strictly enforced. Wales submitted, 
and, under pretence of arbitrating between the aspirants to 
the crown, Robert Bruce and John Baliol, Scotland was 
invaded. William Wallace, the Scottish general, over- 
powered the forces of Edward near Stirling. Wallace 
was basely betrayed by Sir John Monteith, and executed 
as a rebel. The fate of this distinguished patriot fired the 
spirit of Robert Bruce, who raised the drooping hearts of 
his countrymen to resist the tyranny of Edward. 

Edward II. relinquished the attack on Scotland, recalled 
Piers Gaveston, his Gascon favorite, and resigned himself 
to the pleasures of the palace. The Earl of Lancaster at 
the head of the barons, procured the banishment and 
finally the death of Piers. An invasion of Scotland was 
projected by the king with a view to win back his lost 
popularity. Notwithstanding the immense preparations, 
the Scots met the enemy at Bannockburn, totally defeated 
them, procured their independence, and placed Bruce on 
the throne. This defeat, together with the excesses of his 



THE ANGLO-SAXON EMPIRE TO FALL OF RICHARD II. 279 

two favorites, the Le Despensers, sunk Edward so low in 
public opinion, that when his queen refused to return from 
France unless the minions were banished, she was sustained 
by the nation, and her young son Edward proclaimed king 
under the regency of his mother. Edward III. having 
restored quiet in England, defeated the Scots at Halidown 
Hill and placed Baliol on the throne. Pretending to the 
crown of France, as nephew by his mother's side to Charles 
IV., Edward commenced war with that kingdom.* Bruce, 
instigated by the French, invaded England, but was de- 
feated by the queen at Durham. The death of Edward III. 
and his eldest son brought the son of the latter, Eichard 
II., to the throne. A tax of three groats a head was im- 
posed on every person over fifteen years of age. The im- 
proper conduct of a collector arrayed one hundred thou- 
sand men in rebellion under a leader by the name of Wat 
Tyler. Eichard met the mob; their commander being 
struck dead by the mayor of London, and their demands 
granted by the king, they dispersed. A force sixty thou- 
sand strong invaded Scotland, but effected nothing of im- 
portance. The king falling under the influence of a dissi- 
pated favorite, Eobert de Vere, was compelled to resign his 
crown. Governmental powers were confided in a council 
of fourteen persons selected by parliament. The uncles of 
Eichard becoming reconciled to him, he was restored to 
the throne. Misfortune is not always the parent of wisdom. 
Eichard, notwithstanding the lessons his calamities had 
suggested, continued to be a lover of pleasure and a com- 
panion of worthless favorites. The Duke of Gloucester 
endeavored to raise himself to the throne of his incorrigible 
nephew. The scheme was detected, the duke sent a pris- 
oner to Calais and there murdered. The dukes of Norfolk 

* See Chap. XL, before. 



280 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OE EMPIRE AND PEOPHECY. 

and Hereford, who had effected the fall of Gloucester, did 
not long enjoy the royal smile. Lancaster, the father of 
Hereford, stung by the wrongs of the king to his family 
and supported in all quarters, flew to arms. Eichard II. , 
deserted by his army, was seized by his enemies, deposed, 
and murdered. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

THE EMPIRE OE THE ANGLO-SAXONS TO THE DEATH OF 

JAMES I. 

The Duke of Lancaster was proclaimed king under the 
name of Henry IV.* Scottish incursions on England were 
repelled and the Welsh reduced. Brilliant as was the mili- 
tary success of Henry IV., he marred his reputation by 
severities against the followers of Wickliffe, the reformer. 
Henry V., his son, took the crown on the death of his 
father. Excessively dissipated before, the king became a 
model of virtue after his accession. The complicated rela- 
tions with France were managed with distinguished ability. 
In this reign, as in the last, the reformed opinions were bit- 
terly proscribed, and those who held them put to death. 
The will of the king committed the person of the young 
Prince Henry to the Earl of Warwick, the regency to the 
Duke of Gloucester. On attaining age Henry discarded 
Gloucester, falling entirely under the influence of his wife 
and the Earl of Suffolk. The earl and his successor, the 
Duke of Somerset, lost favor; the former in consequence 
of his connection with the murder of Gloucester, the lat- 

* Hume, Vol. I. pp. 18-49. Eev. xiii. 



THE ANGLO-SAXOH EMPIRE TO DEATH OF JAMES I. 281 

ter because of the reverses in France under his adminis- 
tration. The Duke of York finally became protector. 
Descended from the Duke of Clarence, the second son of 
Edward III., the protector considered his title to the throne 
better than that of Henry VI., who was descended from the 
third son of that monarch. Civil war with all its ferocities 
followed. At the battle near St. Albans the royalists were 
defeated, the king made prisoner, and Somerset and Nor- 
thumberland were slain. The Duke of York was now 
virtually king, and tranquillity was restored. 

A petty quarrel between the servants of the houses of 
York and Lancaster again threw the kingdom into a flame. 
The Lancastrians were defeated at Blore Heath. The 
treachery of Sir Andrew Trollop, however, shortly after- 
wards, reversed events near Ludlow. The Duke of York 
fled to Ireland. The Earl of Warwick rallied his forces 
and defeated the royalists at Northampton. Queen Mar- 
garet having defeated and slain the Duke of York near 
Wakefield, marched toward London ; was victorious at 
St. Albans, and threatened to blast the hopes of Warwick. 
The appearance of Edward, the son of the late Duke of 
York, who had routed the Lancastrians near Hereford, 
compelled the queen to withdraw. Edward was proclaimed 
king, his followers assuming the badge of a white rose, his 
enemies that of a red rose. The queen was defeated at 
Towton. Henry and Margaret escaped to Scotland, where 
they raised another army, invaded England, and were 
beaten at Hexham. The queen made good her retreat to 
Flanders; the king was thrown into the Tower. Though 
triumphant and in possession of the throne, Edward soon 
felt the curse of him who puts his trust in princes. War- 
wick, offended at the king, tumbled him from the throne 
and replaced Henry VI. in power. The scene again shifted : 
Warwick became unpopular; Henry was defeated at Barnet 



282 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PKOPHECY. 

and Tewksbury; the king-maker was killed, and Edward 
repossessed of the sceptre. A war with France gave Edward 
indemnity against expenses : fifty thousand crowns a year 
during the joint liyes of the sovereigns of the two realms, 
and the same sum as a ransom for Queen Margaret. Ed- 
ward IV. left two sons, and his brother Kichard Duke of 
Gloucester regent. The object of Kichard being the 
throne, acts of the foulest outrage were committed to at- 
tain it. The Duke of Buckingham, the minion by whom 
Kichard rose to power, eventually accomplished his destruc- 
tion. Henry Earl of Richmond, the grandson of Owen 
Tudor by Catherine, relict of Henry V., descended from 
John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, son of Edward III., was 
selected for the throne. In order to harmonize all inter- 
ests a marriage was concluded between the earl and 
Elizabeth, the daughter of Edward IV. The rivals met at 
Bosworth, where Richard was defeated and killed. Henry 
VII. was not free from prejudice against the house of 
York. Commotions followed: one, headed by Viscount 
Lovel, was soon suppressed; another, under the pretence of 
avenging the rights of the fugitive Earl of Warwick, the 
son of the Duke of Clarence, was not terminated with as 
little trouble. The battle in Nottingham blasted the hopes 
of the insurgents by placing the objects of their concern, 
Simon and Simnel, the first in prison, the last in the king's 
kitchen. Perkin, a similar impostor, with many of his 
adherents were brought to the block. Matrimony and 
money occupied the remainder of the reign. A match was 
effected between Arthur, the eldest son of the king, and 
Catharine, the daughter of Ferdinand, the Spanish mon- 
arch; but that prince dying, his brother Henry was substi- 
tuted in his stead. Margaret, the king's daughter, was 
married to James IV. of Scotland. Empson and Dudley, 
two lawyers, were used as the tools for royal extortion, 



THE ANGLO-SAXON EMPIRE TO DEATH OF JAMES I. 283 

performing their work so well as to fill the coffers of the 
king and bring themselves to the block. 

Henry VIII. , the son of the last king, succeeded to the 
throne. This reign affords the most remarkable instances 
of domestic causes producing national changes of any one on 
record. Unable to obtain a divorce from Catharine of Arra- 
gon, his wife, through the pope, Henry procured himself to 
be declared the protector and supreme head of the church 
and clergy of England. The archbishop of Canterbury 
then pronounced the divorce, and the king was soon after- 
wards married to Anne Boleyn. Dreading excommunica- 
tion, Henry detached himself from Rome, and was declared 
by parliament the only supreme head of the church of 
England on earth. Sir Thomas More and Fisher, the late 
bishop of Rochester, refusing to acquiesce in this ecclesi- 
astical change, suffered on the block. Those nurseries of 
vice and superstition, the monasteries, were all eventually 
abolished. Jane Seymour attracting the heart of Henry, 
Anne was condemned and executed. The king enforced 
the belief and practice of the six doctrines— the real pres- 
ence, the communion with bread only, the utility of private 
masses, the celibacy of the clergy, the perpetual obliga- 
tion of vows of chastity, and the necessity of auricular 
confession— with quite as much severity as Rome ever 
displayed on matters of religion. Jane Seymour died 
a natural death. Anne of Cleves was married by the 
monarch, but was soon exchanged for Catharine Howard, 
who was eventually put to death. James V. of Scotland, 
who married a daughter of the Duke of Guise, remained 
attached to the Roman see, which produced a collision 
with the king of England, his uncle. Overpowered by 
Henry, James died. Previous to his death Mary Stuart, 
his daughter, was born. For the purpose of securing a 
union of the two kingdoms, Henry effected a treaty with 



284 OUTLINE EVOLUTION" OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

Scotland for the marriage of his son Edward with that 
princess. On the restoration of peace the king married 
Catharine Parr, relict of Lord Latimer. 

Edward VI., son of Henry VIII., was a minor at his 
father's death. The administration was committed to six- 
teen persons, by whom the Duke of Somerset was created 
protector. Ecclesiastical affairs were settled upon the basis 
on which they now stand. Somerset was not equally for- 
tunate in regulating the church of Scotland, though vic- 
torious at Pinckney. A council of regency, with the Earl 
of Warwick at its head, rose on the ruined fortunes of 
Somerset. The object of Warwick was to elevate to the 
throne Lady Jane Grey, wife of Guilford Dudley, his fourth 
son. Procuring from Edward a settlement disinheriting 
his sisters, Mary and Elizabeth, and from the Duchess of 
Suffolk, the next heiress to the crown, a declination of her 
rights, the earl supposed his object accomplished. The 
scheme, nevertheless, failed. Mary took the throne after 
the death of her brother, Edward -VI. The short reign of 
Mary was a scene of bigotry and blood. Uniting herself 
with Philip II., king of Spain, in marriage, and her king- 
dom with the see of Eome in ecclesiastical communion, a 
dreadful persecution of the Protestants was commenced, in 
which Rodgers, Hooper, Ferrar, Ridley, Latimer, Cran- 
mer, and a host of learned and pious persons were sacrificed 
at the stake " because they would not worship as the pope 
commanded." The accession of Elizabeth re-established 
the reformed religion. Rome could not tolerate the at- 
tack of the queen on its power. A Bull declared her ille- 
gitimate. Mary Queen of Scots and her husband, Francis 
II., king of France, assumed the arms of England, under 
the direction of the Duke of Guise.* To effect the pur- 

* Robertson's His. of Scotland, in loc. Rev. xiii.-xv. 



THE AtfGLO-SAXON EMPIRE TO DEATH OF JAMES I. 285 

pose indicated by this act, the regent of Scotland, the 
mother of Mary, commenced an attack on the Protestants 
of that realm. Treating with indignity the petition for 
a reformation of the church, the regent cited some emi- 
nent Protestant teachers to appear before the privy coun- 
cil at Stirling. The preparation of parishioners to attend 
the trial of their pastors so alarmed the regent that she 
promised to desist from further proceedings. Relying on 
this assurance, the pastors did not appear at Stirling. The 
regent, faithless to her word, pronounced them outlaws in 
consequence of their default. An act so perfidious roused 
the indignation of the public to the highest pitch. Both 
parties prepared for war, but the intervention of the Earl 
of Argyle and the prior of St. Andrew's averted the catas- 
trophe by an agreement that indemnity should be granted 
to all concerned in the late insurrection, and that a parlia- 
ment should be immediately assembled to compose reli- 
gious differences. The regent again broke her engagement 
in both its obligations. The Protestants appealed to arms; 
churches were despoiled and monasteries laid in ruins. 
New treaties were formed and broken, and new ravages 
were committed. Meanwhile the Earl of Argyle, the prior 
of St. Andrew's, the Duke of Ohatelherault, and his son, 
the Earl of Arran, presumptive heir to the crown, joined 
the Protestants, and the capital fell into their hands. The 
redress of civil and religious grievances, as well as the im- 
mediate expulsion of the French forces, was demanded. 
The regent, after many insincere promises, being re-enforced 
from France, denied the requests of the reformers and di- 
rected them to disband. Instead of complying with the 
order, the reformers called together the whole body of the 
peers and representatives of boroughs adhering to their 
party and deposed the regent. Betaking herself to the 
town of Leith, she foiled her adversaries by means of 



286 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIKE AND PEOPHECY, 

French arms. Shortly afterwards the regent died, an 
English army made its appearance, and the treaty of Edin- 
burgh, was signed by Erancis and Mary with Elizabeth. 
This instrument stipulated that the French troops should 
be immediately withdrawn from Scotland; that the French 
sovereign should thenceforth abstain from wearing the 
arms or assuming the title of king and queen of England ; 
that past offences should be forgiven; that none but natives 
should hold office among the Scots; that no foreign troops 
should be introduced into the kingdom without consent of 
parliament; that out of twenty-four persons nominated by 
parliament the queen should choose seven and that body 
five, in whom should be vested the entire administration 
during the queen's absence; that the queen should neither 
make peace nor declare war without the consent of parlia- 
ment ; and that parliament should take into consideration 
at its first meeting religious differences, representing its 
sense of them to the king and queen. The foreign forces 
immediately left the kingdom. Parliament ratified the 
principal articles of the treaty; gave its sanction to a Con- 
fession of Faith ; prohibited the exercise of the Eomish 
rights, and established the Presbyterian worship. Francis 
and Mary refused to ratify these proceedings. Parliament 
immediately put their statutes into execution. 

After the death of Francis, Mary returned to Scotland, 
where she was received with expressions of regard by her 
subjects. Bestowing her confidence on the Protestants, 
the queen's government was for some time popular. So radi- 
cal, however, was the difference between the Catholic Mary 
and her Protestant subjects that mutual jealousies were 
engendered. Mary's marriage with Lord Darnley, being 
opposed by Elizabeth, became objectionable. Rizzio, the 
queen's favorite, was killed in her presence by the king's 
command. James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell, who sue- 



THE ANGLO-SAXON EMPIRE TO DEATH OF JAMES I. 287 

ceeded to Mary's smile, avenged the insult to his mistress 
by procuring the death of her husband. The widowed 
queen became the earl's wife. The nation could no longer 
tolerate the enormities of Mary. An appeal to arms secured 
the persons of the queen, young James, her son by Lord 
Darnley, as well as the flight of Both well. A prisoner in 
the castle Lochleven, the queen was compelled to resign 
the crown. James was proclaimed king, and the Earl of 
Murray created regent. Jealousy of Murray, on the part 
of the friends of the Duke of Chatelherault, raised a party 
in favor of Mary, whose escape from prison was effected. 
A battle was fought at Langside which blasted her prospects. 
An outcast at home, the dethroned queen fled to England, 
where Elizabeth refused her an asylum until she was ex- 
onerated from the murder of Lord Darnley. Mary offered 
to submit her cause to the arbitrament of her kinswoman, 
but commissioners were eventually appointed whose investi- 
gations resulted in the close confinement of the Scottish fugi- 
tive. Various combinations were formed in process of time, 
under French and Spanish influence or connivance, to 
relieve Mary. The last involving an attack on the life of 
Elizabeth, all parties, the Scottish queen not excepted, 
suffered death. Notwithstanding the assaults on the throne 
and the life of the queen, and the failure of her favorite, 
the Earl of Essex, to reduce O'Neill in Ireland, the 
Spanish Armada, which was designed to crush the Kef orma- 
tion in Europe, met with defeat, and England attained an 
unprecedented prosperity throughout this reign. 

James I., the son of Mary Queen of Scots and the 
great-grandson of Margaret, eldest daughter of Henry VII., 
succeeded Elizabeth on the English throne. The king was 
unpopular from the commencement of his reign. The 
selection of an able ministry formed the principal hold that 
James possessed on public confidence. The Puritans, who 



288 OUTLIKE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

in the last reign were the opponents of royal prerogative, 
at a conference held at Hampton Court demanded a greater 
purification of the English church.* The king being 
present, displayed his eloquence and learning. On a mo- 
tion to revive the bodies formerly in existence, called pro- 
phesyings, James declaimed against them vehemently, as 
nurseries of rebellion and faction. Indeed the whole tenor 
of his course was utterly opposed to what the conference 
expected from a Scotch Protestant, especially from the 
author of a dissertation proving " modern Eome to be the 
whore of Babylon" and "the pope antichrist." After 
the desolating plague had subsided a parliament assembled. 
James pressed the union of Scotland and England", but the 
measure failed. The prerogative rights of purveyance and 
wardship, by which the monarchs had been entitled to seize 
provisions for their household wherever they travelled, and 
to hold the estate of heirs during minorship, or compel 
their female wards to marry whom they pleased, were 
abolished. Parliament assumed the power to issue writs to 
supply the places of those members who did not take their 
seats. The Catholics, plotting the destruction of both king 
and parliament, attempted to execute their purpose by 
exploding the house where they were to assemble, with 
gunpowder. The leaders of the conspiracy, Wright, 
Catesby, and Percy, were executed. A temporary pros- 
perity was now enjoyed by the sovereign. During the con- 
tinuance of this auspicious season James introduced the 
English laws into Ireland; the county of Ulster in that 
country was settled by colonies from England; and great 
commercial advantages were secured to the kingdom. 
These favorable events might have won for the king the 
affections of his subjects. But the frivolity of his character, 



*Q'NeaU's His. of Puritans. 



THE ANGLO-SAXOH EMPIRE TO DEATH OF JAMES I. 289 

together with the extravagance of his favorites, Robert 
Carr and George Villiers, involved him in new troubles. A 
rapid succession of unpopular acts followed. The execu- 
tion of Sir Walter Raleigh was deemed as unnecessary as it 
was unjust. Thinking to stem the torrent, James pro- 
jected a match between his son Charles and the Infanta 
Maria, daughter of Philip IV., king of Spain. Elated 
with the prospect of this match, the cause of the monarch's 
son-in-law, the elector palatine, was treated with contempt. 
The Protestants were stung to the quick by this act. The 
house of commons entreated the king to espouse the 
cause of the elector, to abandon the Spanish match, and 
to commence war against Spain. James informed their 
speaker in reply that they ought not to presume to meddle 
with anything that regarded his government or with deep 
matters of state. The house maintained its right to inter- 
pose its counsel in all governmental affairs, as well as its 
entire freedom of speech in all debates on public business. 
Thus commenced the controversy concerning the preroga- 
tives of the crown and the privileges of the commons 
which long engaged the most gifted minds, then deluged 
the nation in blood, and at last renovated the English 
constitution. 



290 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 



CHAPTER XX. 

THE EMPIRE OF THE ANGLO-SAXONS TO THE ESTABLISH- 
MENT OF WILLIAM PRINCE OF ORANGE IN POWER. 

Charles L took the throne on the death of his father, 
James I. * Loaded with the debts of the last administra- 
tion and those incurred by the war about the Palatinate, 
the king sought of parliament a large appropriation of 
money. That body, however, determined to reduce the 
prerogatives of the crown, only granted a portion of the 
sum requested by the king. Applications of the same na- 
ture from Charles met with a similar fate in subsequent 
parliaments. Levies for money were made by royal au- 
thority on subjects, many of whom were cast into prison 
for non-compliance with the king's demand. Sir Thomas 
Darnel and others made an effort to obtain their release by 
law; but the court of king's bench deciding that Charles 
possessed the power to impose taxes, the petitioners failed 
in accomplishing their object. The king was not equally 
fortunate in his expeditions against Cadiz and Rochelle. 
Pleased with the release of persons in confinement in conse- 
quence of the non-payment of royal assessments, and the 
passage of the Petition of Right, the new parliament grant- 
ed an appropriation of money which was satisfactory to the 
king. Quiet appeared to be restored by these measures. 
Parliament, however, declaring against the tax of tonnage 
and poundage, all things were thrown into commotion and 
its session suspended by royal authority. A succeeding 
parliament pursuing the same course being dissolved, 

* Hume. D'Aubigne's Protect. Carlyle's Crom. Papers. Macau- 
lay's Hist, of Eng. 



ANGLO-SAXON EMPIRE TO WILLIAM OF ORANGE. 291 

Charles determined to dispense with these bodies, and to 
rule the nation by his own arbitrary counsels. John 
Hampden refused to pay the tax of ship-money. The 
twelve judges decided against him, sustaining the position 
that necessity justified the king in imposing such a tax, 
and that he was the sole judge of that necessity. 

Charles introduced episcopacy into Scotland. A popular 
tumult ensued at Edinburgh. The Marquis of Hamilton 
was deputed to treat with the Scots. After repeated fruit- 
less negotiations the Scots agreed to submit the disputed 
points to the general assembly and parliament. Xot heed- 
ing the refusal of the bishops to sit in the assembly, and 
its dissolution by the royal commissioner, that body con- 
tinued its session, abolishing episcopacy with all the re- 
ligious innovations introduced from the accession of James 
I. to the throne of England. A military force was enlisted 
by the Scots, which was entrusted to the command of 
Lesley, Earl of Leven. Charles put himself at the head 
of an army of more than twenty thousand men. A recon- 
ciliation was effected, by which it was stipulated that the 
sovereign should withdraw his forces, that the Scots should 
dismiss their army, that the royal authority should be 
acknowledged, and that the general assembly and parlia- 
ment should compose differences. These bodies soon sat, but 
the latter was prorogued in order to prevent it from ratify- 
ing some acts of the assembly which did not suit the royal 
pleasure. War was renewed; the Scots were triumphant; 
a cessation of hostilities was agreed upon. Parliament, 
regaining its authority, assailed the measures and ministers 
used by the king for the last few years. The Earl of 
Strafford, Archbishop Laud, Lord Keeper Finch, and 
Secretary Windebank were impeached: Strafford was con- 
demned and executed. The courts of star-chamber and 
high commission were abolished. Ship-money was declared 



292 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

illegal. The sentence of Hampden was reversed. Com- 
positions for knighthood were stigmatized. The extension 
of forest laws was condemned. Patents for monopolies were 
annulled. The tenure of all judges was altered from that of 
pleasure to that of good behavior. The influence of Charles 
was completely subverted in Scotland. Taking advantage 
of the troublesome state of affairs, the Catholics of Ireland 
committed dreadful massacres of the Protestants, particu- 
larly in Ulster. Proceeding to charge thirteen bishops, 
the commons demanded the surrender of their persons by 
the peers. The demand was refused, but a portion of the 
peers took part with the house. Scenes of violence ensued 
between the populace, denominated roundheads, and the 
adherents of the king, styled cavaliers. The bishops, assert- 
ing their dread of being attacked by the former, withdrew 
from the house of peers, protesting against air votes which 
might be passed in their absence. A conference took place 
between the two houses, at which the impeachment of the 
thirteen bishops was sanctioned, and they were committed 
to custody. Charles ordered an accusation for treason to 
be preferred against Lord Kimbolton, Sir Arthur Hazelrig, 
Hollis, Hampden, Pym, and Stroud. Failing to obtain 
the persons of the accused, the king offered to drop the 
proceedings and make concessions to the commons for the 
breach of their privileges. The apology was resolved to 
be insufficient, unless the advisers of the measure were dis- 
covered. Thus victorious, parliament placed their own 
governors in all seaport towns and assumed the exclusive 
command of the militia of the kingdom. Charles removed 
to York; the queen fled to Holland. A warfare of the pen 
ensued. At last parliament levied an army, under the 
command of the Earl of Essex. The king raised forces and 
erected his headquarters at Nottingham. A bloody but 
indecisive battle was fought at Edgehill. Essex was un- 



ANGLO-SAXON EMPIRE TO WILLIAM OF ORANGE. 293 

successful at Oxford, and a portion of his main body was 
defeated at Carlsgrave Field by Prince Rupert, where John 
Hampden was killed. At Stamford and Lansdown Hill 
the parliamentary forces fared no better, and were totally 
defeated at Sound way Down. Bristol was taken by Rupert, 
and Gloucester invested. Charles published a manifesto 
in which he professed a desire for peace. Edmund Waller, 
a member of parliament, together with Tompkins and 
Challoner, endeavored to effect it. Parliament, though 
thus far unsuccessful in arms, resisted all attempts at com- 
promise and condemned Tompkins and Challoner to death. 
A reverse occurred in the king's affairs in consequence of 
the victory of Sir Thomas Fairfax at Wakefield and that of 
Oliver Cromwell at Gainsborough. A union was formed 
with the Scots. Their army under the Earl of Leven, and 
the English forces commanded by Fairfax and Cromwell, 
were triumphant at Marston Moor. York and New Castle 
fell into the hands of the parliamentary leaders. 

The independents becoming dominant in parliament, re- 
solved that no member of that body should be in command 
of the army. Essex resigned; Fairfax took his place; 
Cromwell, though a member of the house, was permitted 
to hold his position in the military. Archbishop Laud was 
brought to the block. Strengthened in Scotland by the 
exertions of the Marquis of Montrose, Charles rallied his 
forces, relieved Chester, took Leicester, and in marching 
to raise the siege of Oxford joined battle with the parlia- 
mentary army at Naseby, where he was utterly ruined. 
Every place of importance was soon captured by the gene- 
rals of the parliament. Charles having taken refuge in the 
camp of the Scots, was surrendered by them to parliament. 
The army and parliament now disagreed. The former seized 
the person of Charles. The city of London insisting on the 
removal of the officers of the independents, the army ap- 



294 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

proached tlie capital. At Hounslow Heath the speakers of 
both houses/ eight peers, and sixty commoners, imploring 
their protection, were reinstated in power by the military. 
Charles was brought to Hampton Court, from whence, in 
dread of attacks on his life, he fled to the Isle of Wight, where 
he was made a prisoner. A council of officers determined to 
bring the king to an account for his conduct. Parliament 
still indulged the hope of a settlement, and proposed as its 
basis that Charles should allow it all military power, ratify 
its acts, annul all patents of peerage from the time of Lord 
Littleton, and permit the two houses to adjourn as they 
pleased. As negotiations were on the eve of a favorable 
termination, the army, which had been absent in suppress- 
ing outbreaks in the kingdom, approached London and 
drove all the members from both houses but its own ad- 
herents. This body, styled the rump parliament, formed 
a high court of justice for the trial of the king, by which 
he was condemned and executed (a.d. 1649). Kingly 
power and the house of peers were abolished; a new seal 
ordered, with the inscription, "In the first year of free- 
dom, by God's blessing restored "; the powers of govern- 
ment vested in a body of persons called "the conservators 
of the liberties of England"; the statue of the king cast 
down, and on its pedestal engraven the words, "The 
tyrant, the last of kings, is gone." 

Young Charles was proclaimed king in Scotland, and 
was supported in Ireland. Cromwell soon blasted his 
prospects by subduing both countries. Every portion of 
the empire in England, Ireland, Scotland, America, and 
India was submissive to the commonwealth. Failing to 
obtain its terms with the Dutch, parliament passed the 
Navigation Act, by which all goods from Asia, Afria, and 
America were excluded from England unless brought in 
its own ships. War ensued with the Dutch, who were at 



ANGLO-SAXON EMPIRE TO WILLIAM OF OEANGE. 295 

first triumphant, but were finally reduced by Dean and 
Monk. The army petitioned for their arrears of pay and 
demanded a new representative body. Commons deter- 
mined to fill the vacancies in their number by an election. 
Enraged at this measure, Cromwell with a band of three 
hundred soldiers cleared the house. A new parliament 
was convened, which resigned their powers to the military 
and dispersed. A council of officers proclaimed the instru- 
ment of government, and declared Oliver Cromwell pro- 
tector or supreme magistrate of the commonwealth. The 
Dutch war was renewed. Monk and Dean were eventually 
triumphant. The Dutch were glad to purchase peace by 
yielding to England the honor of the flag. The war with 
Spain also added greatly to the glory of the English navy, 
as well as to the fame of Blake and Penn. Tunis was 
bombarded; reparation for wrongs obtained from the Duke 
of Tuscany; Jamaica was captured; the piratical hordes in 
the Mediterranean were crushed; the Spanish fleet destroyed 
in the Bay of Santa Cruz. After the successful termina- 
tion of this war, the protector convoked a parliament 
which presented to him a form of government differing 
little from that contained in the instrument. Having 
declined the title and office of a king, the protector was 
inaugurated under the new constitution at Westminster 
Hall (a.d. 1658). On the death of Cromwell, his son 
Eichard became protector. Cabals which Eichard had not 
the talents to control soon forced him to resign. The 
military officers again seized the reins of government. 
The Eump parliament was assembled. A council was ap- 
pointed by this body for the management of public affairs. 
Offended at not holding the power in the council, the mili- 
tary officers created a committee of safety consisting of 
twenty-three persons. Monk, protesting against this arbi- 
trary act, declared for the parliament. A reaction occurred 



296 OUTLINE EVOLUTION" OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

in public sentiment which placed Charles II. on the throne 
of his ancestors. All judicial decrees from the time of 
Charles I. were confirmed; an act of indemnity was passed; 
six of the regicides, with four of their abettors, were exe- 
cuted; the bodies of Cromwell and his son-in-law Ireton 
were taken from their coffins at Westminster, drawn on 
hurdles to Tyburn, hanged by the neck for some hours, 
their heads chopped off and placed upon Westminster Hall, 
their bodies thrown into a hole beneath the gallows. Simi- 
lar barbarities were perpetrated in Scotland. The Mar- 
quis of Argyle and Guthrie were among the victims. 
The royalists had a decided majority in the new parlia- 
ment. An act of uniformity was passed which required 
that a clergyman should possess episcopal ordination to 
hold a benefice; should declare his assent to every dogma 
in the Book of Common Prayer; take the oath of canonical 
obedience to abjure the League and Covenant; and re- 
nounce the right of taking arms against the king. The 
marriage of Charles with Catharine of Portugal, together 
with his subserviency to Louis XIV., and his cruelties to 
the Presbyterians of Scotland, confirmed the nation in a 
dread of arbitrary power and popery. Titus Oates, aided 
by Dr. Tongue, a London clergyman, pretended that there 
was a plot to murder the king, to subvert the government, 
and to destroy the Protestant religion. Trifling as the 
evidence was at first in support of this declaration, it so 
accumulated in time that parliament eventually believed 
it; executed Viscount Stafford as one of the conspirators; 
and pressed the exclusion of James, the brother of the 
king, from the succession to the crown, inasmuch as he 
was a Catholic. Overpowered by the opposition, Charles 
made a written appeal to the nation which he caused to be 
read in all the pulpits of the established church throughout 
the kingdom. This shrewd movement had a tendency 



ANGLO-SAXON" EMPIRE TO WILLIAM OF ORANGE. 297 

in a great measure to relieve the king from the odium 
which his unpopular acts had brought upon him. Taking 
advantage of this good fortune, government caused the 
charter of London and other cities to be forfeited in order 
to increase its power by restoring them upon its own terms. 
Oppression seldom fails to create resistance among freemen. 
A combination was formed for the re-establishment of the 
constitution which was denominated, from the place 
where its sujoporters usually held their meetings, the Rye 
House Plot. Before the measures of the conspirators were 
ripe for execution the crown detected and executed their 
principal members, Lord Russell and Algernon Sidney. 
Death cut short the career of Charles II. His brother, 
the Duke of York, succeeded to the crown under the name 
of James II. The rebellion headed by the Dukes of Mon- 
mouth and Argyle was suppressed. The leaders were 
executed. Persons concerned in this rebellion were 
brought to the block by the wholesale, through the agency 
of Chief-Justice Jeffreys. Emboldened by his recent suc- 
cesses, James dispensed with the test act in favor of some 
Catholics. The house of commons protested against this 
arbitrary conduct of the king; the judges nevertheless 
sustained it. The Earl of Powis with other zealous Catho- 
lics were placed at the council-board; Talbot, of the same 
faith, created Earl of Tyrconnel, was appointed lieutenant 
of Ireland; Earl Castlemain was despatched to Rome in 
order to reconcile the pope; public audience given in Eng- 
land to the nuncio of his holiness; papists introduced into 
the universities of Oxford and Cambridge. Attempting to 
form a coalition between Catholics and other dissenters, 
James commanded his Declaration of General Indulgence 
to be read in all the pulpits of the state establishment 
throughout the kingdom. Sancroft, archbishop of Canter- 
bury, with six bishops, presented a petition to the crown 



298 OUTLIKE EVOLUTION OP EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

in opposition to this order. The petitioners were com- 
mitted to the Tower, but being acquitted by a jury were 
set at liberty. Whigs and Tories united in resisting the 
oppression of the crown. The aid of William Prince of 
Orange, the son-in-law of James II., was invoked. William 
landed in England without opposition. James made his 
escape to France. Tranquillity was restored by the passage 
of the Act of Settlement (a.d. 1669). By the terms of 
this instrument the Prince and Princess of Orange were 
declared king and queen of England during their joint 
lives and the life of the survivor, the sole administration 
being in the prince; after the death of both, the heirs of 
the body of the princess were to succeed to the throne; 
and in default of such issue Anne of Denmark and the 
heirs of her body to succeed before the heirs of William 
by any other wife. Provision was also made against the 
encroachments of the crown, reducing its authority within 
such limits as would preserve popular rights from those 
invasions to which they had long been liable. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

THE EMPIRE OP THE ANGLO-SAXONS TO THE PRESENT 

TIMES. 

William proclaimed a toleration of all forms of Protes- 
tant worship in England and re-established Presbyterian- 
ism in Scotland.* The Irish who adhered to the cause of 
James II. were defeated at the battle of the Boyne. The 
Scots who supported the dethroned monarch were scat- 

*Rus., Vol. IV. Let. 17, p. 180. Smollett, Vol. I. ch. ii. §§ 25-28. 



THE AKGLO-SAXON" EMPIRE TO THE PRESENT TIMES. 299 

tered after their success at Killiecrankie. Cruelties by the 
king's friends at Glencoe, in Scotland, induced a conspiracy 
to restore James II., which was aided by France. It was 
crushed by a naval victory over the French fleet at La 
Hogue. On the death of the queen, William was exposed 
to the intrigues of his enemies. Sir George Barclay headed 
a plot to destroy the king, which was frustrated by the exe- 
cution of its principal supporters. The desperate character 
of this combination in aiming at the life of the sovereign, 
together with the brilliant successes against France, ended 
the hopes of James II. and seated William firmly on the 
throne. No alteration in the conduct of the continental 
affairs occurred upon the accession of Anne of Denmark to 
the English sceptre. Lord Godolphin and the Duke of 
Marlborough still controlled the national movements. 
Scottish troubles were terminated by a union between Scot- 
land and England (a.d. 1706). The terms of the arrange- 
ment provided for the unity of the two kingdoms; the 
succession of the Princess Sophia, duchess dowager of 
Hanover, and her heirs being Protestants; the representa- 
tion of Scotland in parliament by sixteen peers and forty- 
five commoners; the freedom of trade; the permanency of 
the courts and laws of Scotland; and the rights of royal 
boroughs in that kingdom. A grant of near four hundred 
thousand pounds of money was made by the English par- 
liament to be paid in Scotland for preserving an equality 
of trade throughout the united kingdoms. The strife for 
power between Mr. Harley, Godolphin, and Marlborough, 
the hero of the French war,* preyed upon the spirits of 
the queen to such an extent as to impair her health. Her 
death brought to the throne George, son to Ernest Augus- 
tus, Elector of Brunswick, by the Princess Sophia, great- 

* Chap. XIII. 



300 OUTLIKE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

granddaughter to James L, who was proclaimed king under 
the title of George I. The change in the administration 
threw some of the officers of the last reign into disgrace. One 
of the number became the leader of the Jacobites, who advo- 
cated the right of the son of James II. to the throne. A 
large force was raised in Scotland and the north of England 
in support of this cause. The defeat of the insurgents at 
Sheriffmuir put an end to their operations. Sir John 
Blount, under pretence of lowering the interest on the 
national debt by making the South-Sea Company the sole 
public creditor, threw the kingdom into commotion by the 
failure of his scheme. The panic was allayed by the pun- 
ishment of defaulters and the indemnity of sufferers. 
Splendid results attended the war with Spain.* 

George II., the son of the last monarch, took the throne. 
Sir Robert Walpole's excise measures and the iniquitous act 
of the Charitable Corporation, formed for lending money 
on pledges, agitated the reign. War was declared against 
Spain. Admiral Yernon, in charge of the English fleet, 
took Porto Bello, in South America. In a subsequent ex- 
pedition against Carthagena that admiral and his colleague 
Wentworth lost twenty thousand men. Nor was Anson 
less unfortunate, though he eventually captured the Ma- 
nilla galleon. Taking advantage of the enormous expenses 
of the war about the succession of Maria Theresa, the Jaco- 
bites made an effort to restore the Stuarts. The young 
pretender landed in Scotland, where, joined by Lochiel, 
Cameron, and Highland chiefs, he took possession of Dun- 
dee, Dunkeld, Perth, Edinburgh, and was victorious at 
Prestonpans and Ealkirk. The forces of George destroyed 
the prospects of the invader at Culloden. Scotland was 
reduced by depriving its Highland chiefs of their exclusive 

* Chap. XVII., Spain. 



THE ANGLO-SAXON EMPIRE TO THE PRESENT TIMES. 301 

jurisdiction. Lords Balmerino and Lovafc and the Earl of 
Kilmarnock were executed. Scenes of riot and frustrated 
attempts at invading France spread abroad dissatisfaction, 
which might have been detrimental to the king but for 
the success of his arms in America, in the East Indies, and 
under his ally, Frederick of Prussia.* 

George III., the grandson of the last monarch, succeeded 
to the sceptre. f The war with Spain not only sustained 
the king of Portugal, but placed England in possession of 
Havana and the whole range of the Philippine Islands. 
The unpopularity of the treaty of Paris forced its author, 
the Earl of Bute, from power. Grenville, his successor, 
was equally objectionable. John Wilkes, the editor of the 
North Briton, in an attack on the minister, brought on 
his head the vengeance of government. Weak as was the 
minister at home, he ventured upon the perilous policy of 
taxing the American colonies. \ Eash conduct in his suc- 
cessors on the same subject created a rupture between the 
two countries. Measures of national reform, though ably 
advocated, were but imperfectly applied. Efforts to remove 
Catholic disabilities being warmly opposed, occasioned dis- 
turbances in the capital. In regulating the concerns of the 
East India Company parliament became the scene of bitter 
contention. Warren Hastings, the late governor-general of 
British India, was impeached for improprieties alleged to 
have been committed by him during his administration. 
The indisposition of the king resulting in mental derange- 
ment, his son George became regent. The father, however, 
was afterwards restored to health and resumed the manage- 
ment of public affairs. Separation was procured from 
Spain for wrongs on English shipping. Liberty was also 

* See Chap. XIII. Orme's His. India. f Bisset. 

X See Chap. XXII. 



302 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

obtained from that kingdom for English settlements north 
of the Spanish colonies on the western coast of North 
America. Parliament exempted the Catholics from many- 
disabilities on abjuring the doctrines that excommunicated 
princes might be deposed, that no faith was to be kept 
with heretics, and that the church could dispense with 
moral duties or pardon sins. A constitution was provided 
for Canada which secured to that country a representative 
assembly and the right of internal taxation. Efforts for 
parliamentary reforms involved some of their advocates in 
prosecutions, which were abandoned after the acquittal of 
Tooke and Hardy. A stoppage of specie payment by the 
national bank, together with a mutiny among the seamen 
in the fleet, produced great popular excitement. The 
panic nevertheless subsided on explanations in regard to 
the solvency of the bank and the execution of the ring- 
leaders in the mutiny. An outbreak in Ireland was sup- 
pressed by the battle of Ballinahinch. England and that 
country were united by an act which confirmed the Pro- 
testant succession; consolidated the legislative bodies; 
united the churches of the two countries; secured to the 
subjects of both realms the same commercial privileges, 
leaving the public debt of each on a separate basis; guaran- 
teed the maintenance of the laws and courts then in exist- 
ence, subject to legislative revision; and ordained that four 
prelates should sit alternately in parliament, twenty-eight 
lay-peers should be chosen for life, while two members for 
each of the Irish counties and thirty-six citizens and burgess- 
es were to represent the Hibernian commons (a.d. 1801).* 
Nelson's naval victory off Draco Point established the 
supremacy of England in the northern seas. Emmet and 
Kussell, deeming the troublesome negotiations with France 

*A1. Eu. Bisset, Vol. IV. ch. Ixvi. 



THE ANGLO-SAXON EMPIRE TO THE PRESENT TIMES. 303 

to afford a fit time for action, made a bold effort for the 
liberation of Ireland. The movement failing, the leaders 
were executed. Sir Arthur Wellesley and General Lake 
were triumphant in the East Indies. The Cape of Good 
Hope was reduced. Great but temporary advantage was 
obtained at Buenos Ayres, in South America. Brilliant 
success attended the English arms in the southern penin- 
sula. Another fit of derangement in the king brought 
his son to the regency. Java and Batavia fell into the 
possession of the English. Outbreaks arising from a 
general want of employment agitated the kingdom. The 
success of Lord Exmouth's expedition in humbling Algiers, 
liberating an immense number of Christian captives, 
extorting from the dey the total abolition of slavery in his 
dominions, and procuring reparation for all the powers 
which had sustained injury from the barbarous acts of 
these people tended greatly to allay popular commotions. 
The same result was promoted by the marriages solemnized 
between Charlotte Princess of Wales and Leopold Prince 
of Saxe-Coburg; between the Duke of Gloucester and his 
cousin, the Princess Mary; and between the Dukes of Kent, 
Clarence, Cambridge, and different princely families of 
Germany. Conflicting views on parliamentary reforms gave 
rise in Manchester to bloodshed. Hunt and other leaders 
suffered imprisonment. Sir Francis Burdett, reflecting 
in a letter to his constituents on the action of govern- 
ment in the recent disturbances, was convicted of libel. 
Parliamentary acts followed to prevent seditious meetings, 
to prohibit training and arming, to check blasphemous 
and seditious writings, and to tax cheap publications. 

On the death of George III., his son George IV. suc- 
ceeded to the crown.* The Cato-Street Conspiracy, hav- 

* Croly's Geo. IY. 



304 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY* 

ing for its object the assassination of the ministers, was 
detected. Thistlewood, its prime mover, was executed. 
Proceedings in parliament by the king to obtain a divorce 
from Queen Caroline delayed the coronation. Ireland, 
Scotland, and Hanover were visited by George IV. Eng- 
lish power was greatly strengthened in India by the defeat 
of the Burmese. Ottoman atrocities on the Greeks fired 
the indignation of Europe. A treaty for the protection of 
Greece was signed at London between England, Russia, 
and France. The fleet of the allies, commanded by Sir 
Edward Oodrington, destroyed that of the Ottomans at 
Navarino. Greece was created a kingdom under Otho of 
Bavaria. William Duke of Clarence succeeded to the 
throne on the death of his brother, George IV. Eeform 
measures in regard to Catholic emancipation, Jewish disa- 
bilities, and the education funds constituted the absorbing 
objects of this reign. William's popularity waxed or waned 
as he advanced or retarded these movements. 

Alexandrina Victoria, daughter of the Duke of Kent, 
fourth son of George III., came to the throne after the 
death of William IV. Two years after the accession of 
the queen she was married to Albert Prince of Saxe- 
Coburg. Difficulties arose in Canada.* The reform 
party, thinking to expedite certain favorite measures, 
refused to pass supplies for public expenses. In revenge, 
the governor declined to sanction the act for the encour- 
agement of education, as well as other acts. Popular 
indignation was excited, under the influence of rival clubs. 
Government officers arrested two citizens for the part they 
had taken in the contest. The prisoners were rescued by 
the populace. Having overstepped the law by this act, 
the reformers flew to arms, as the most likely expedient 

* Thellier's His. of the Outbreak. 



THE ANGLO-SAXON EMPIRE TO THE PRESENT TIMES. 305 

for their own security. Government suppressed the out- 
break by severe actions at St. Denis and St. Charles, at 
St. Eustache and Navy Island. Breadstuff monopoly 
was destroyed in England by the repeal of the corn-laws. 
China having interdicted the opium trade, created a 
breach which was only healed by the grant of enlarged 
commercial privileges to English subjects. Timely inter- 
ference on the part of England and the great powers of 
Europe prevented a dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire, 
by restraining Mehemet Ali to his Egyptian dominions. 
Dread on the part of the East India Company that the 
friendly feelings existing between the natives and the 
Eussians might enable the latter to penetrate from the 
Cabul to the ocean on the south, and thus establish a 
commercial rival, produced extensive preparations by the 
English to restore Shah Soojah, the exiled prince, to the 
throne of his ancestors.* This project was seconded by 
Eunjeet Singh, the head of the Punjab nation, through 
whose territory north of the Sutledge Eiver the company's 
forces were compelled to pass. Two decided victories by 
the English were followed by a settlement which surren- 
dered to England in full sovereignty the territory, hill 
and plain, lying between the rivers Sutledge and Beas ; 
secured to the victors indemnity for the expenses of the 
war, and committed to them the entire regulation and 
control of both banks of the river Sutledge, as well as the 
future boundaries of the Sikh state, together with the 
administration of its public affairs. The revolutionary 
spirit which swept the continent of Europe in 1848 with 
such dreadful havoc created disturbances in Ireland and 
England. Prompt measures on the part of government 



* A Narrative of the Afghan War, by Steele. Dub. Un. Mag., 
Vol. II. No. 3, Sept. 1842. Orme's His. of India, 



306 OUTLAST EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AXD PEOPHECY. 

>presaed them in both countries. The rebellion in India 
wi 3 not u 7 sily terminated. After haying progressed to 
a fearful extent of blood and outrage, it was only crushed 
by the greatest se verities inflicted upon the natives.* The 
war with China (1858), in which England. Fran: 
and the Unite". S:::t; ~ere engaged, resulted so far in the 
humiliation of the eastern power that it was only able to 
procure peace upon a treaty which contained promises of 
indemnity for public and private losses to the western 
nations and their sitbens, the allowance to them of re 
dent ambassadors, unrestricted trade and travel, and the 
free exercise of the Christian religion.! The invasion of 

~ssinia humbled that kingdom and liberated the Eng- 
lish whom it held in captivity (186$ . The discontents 
in Ireland it was supposed would be allayed by the meas- 
ures of parliament in abrogating its church establishment, 
which has heretofore ezis.d in that nation (1869). 



CHAPTER XXII. 

THE EDITED STATES OE AMERICA TO THE ADMESTSTEATIOX 
OE THE YEAE 18 T 2. 

The thirteen English colonies in Xorth America carried 
on a considerable trade with the French and Spanish resi- 
dents of the new world previous to the treaty of Paris. J 
Sold and silver had been procured from this commerce in 
sufficient quantities to make purchases in England on ad- 

* Walsh's X:_i: 

f Hue's China. Taylor's Manual, China. Gazette. 
; Ramsay's His. Am. Rev. Pitkin's Pol. His. U. S. Marshall's 
and living's "War. Bancroft's His. IT. S. Holmes' Anns. 



THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA TO 1872. 307 

vantageous terms. Parliament interfered with this traffic 
by loading it with enormous duties. Unwise as was this 
policy, the complaints of the colonists would have subsided 
had they not been followed by the Stamp Act. This law 
required instruments of writing in daily use among the 
people to be on stamped paper or parchment, which was 
charged with duty. Such an attempt to raise a revenue 
from the new world to pay in part the debt of one hundred 
and forty-eight million of the parent-portion of the old 
world kindled a flame of indignation throughout the col- 
onies. Virginia led the way. The house of burgesses passed 
resolutions denying the right of parliament to tax the col- 
onies. Five months subsequent a continental congress as- 
sembled at New York which confirmed this doctrine (a.d. 
1766). The objectionable law was repealed by parliament. 
In about one year, however, that body passed another law 
imposiug duties on glass, paper, painter's colors, and tea. 
Although this measure was presented by the ministry 
merely as a means of regulating commerce, it was assailed 
by most of the colonial writers, particularly by Mr. Dick- 
inson of Pennsylvania, as one directly enacting the odious 
principle of parliamentary taxation. Viewed in this light 
by the country, it produced, as the only means which could 
be adopted as a remedy, a non-importation agreement 
among the residents. Notwithstanding the unpopularity 
of the law, the ministry directed a board of commissioners 
to be established. Sustained by the common sentiment of 
the colonists, the assembly of Massachusetts demanded a 
repeal of the law. In order to counteract this step, the 
home minister addressed communications to all the assem- 
blies imploring them to recede from their position. This 
imprudent act, connected with the seizure of the sloop Lib- 
erty by the crown officers, gave the strongest impulse to 
the colonial cause (a.d. 1768), 



308 OUTLINE EVOLUTION" OF EMPIKE AND PROPHECY. 

Supercilious subordinates often involve their govern- 
ments in the worst complications. The haughty bearing 
of the royal tax-collectors increased the already embittered 
state of feeling. Two regiments and armed vessels were 
sent to Boston for the protection of the crown officers in 
exacting the duties. Both houses of parliament approving 
of the course of the king in regard to the colonies, suggested 
the appointment of a commission to prosecute all persons 
charged with treason or misprision thereof within the realm 
of Great Britain. The burgesses of Yirgina promptly de- 
clared their exclusive right of taxation, as well as of peti- 
tion for redress of grievances; the lawfulness of procuring 
the concurrence of the other colonies in measures of com- 
mon interest to all; and the sole right of colonial courts to 
try offences within their jurisdiction. Other assemblies 
sanctioned these principles and, like that of Virginia, were 
dissolved for the act by gubernatorial authority. Conduct so 
arbitrary excited opposition. The people anew formed non- 
importation conventions. Governor Hutchinson attempted 
to counteract these movements in Boston by creating as- 
sociations of an opposite character; which induced the Bos- 
tonians to determine on a reshipment of the merchandise 
sent from England. Unable to enforce the law, parliament 
repealed all its provisions except that which imposed a tax 
of threepence per pound upon tea(A.D. 1770). An assur- 
ance was at the same time given by the ministry that this 
impost would eventually be abandoned. Quiet might have 
been restored at this period had not an affray in Boston 
between the military and the populace, coupled with the ar- 
rogance of crown officers, continued the bad state of feel- 
ing. The discovery of Governor Hutchinson's letters in 
England concerning the colonists, made by Dr. Franklin, 
also tended to exasperate the public mind. 

A crisis was created in events by the cupidity of the 



THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA TO 1872. 309 

East India Company. In consequence of the non-importa- 
tion resolution of the colonists, the tea of this establish- 
ment had been stored in England to the amount of seven- 
teen millions of pounds. Procuring a law to authorize its 
exportation free of duty, preparations were immediately 
made to throw it into the American market. In view of 
this act, an expression of public opinion was made at Phila- 
delphia and throughout the country. Despite this the 
company persisted in their project. The cargoes were re- 
turned from New York and Philadelphia, landed and stored 
at Charlestown; but in Boston seventeen individuals dis- 
guised as Indians entered the ships, broke open three 
hundred and forty-two chests, the contents of which were 
thrown into the sea. Upon the announcement of this act 
in England, parliament passed two bills: the first directed 
the closing of the port of Boston, transferring its rights as 
a place of entry to Salem; the second stripped the colony 
of its charter, vesting in the crown or governor the ap- 
pointment of all the important officers. Acts so fatal to 
the rights of all the colonies excited among them a sym- 
pathy for Boston. The people were rent into two parties: 
that which advocated the rights of the Bostonians was 
denominated Whig; that which adhered to the mother- 
country was styled Tory. After sharp discussions it was 
resolved to convoke a congress to consult upon the state 
of affairs. At Boston the assemblies were dissolved, the 
courts closed; troops arrived from the northern possessions, 
and General Gage, who was in command, commenced op- 
erations by fortifying his post. The colonists were not 
idle: covenants were formed to suspend commercial rela- 
tions with England until grievances were redressed; 
strength tested by military arrangements; and the causes of 
complaint placed before the world in their true light (a.d. 
1774). 



310 OUTLIKE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE ABTD PROPHECY. 

Congress assembled at Philadelphia. Twelve colonies, 
containing a population of three millions, were represented. 
The position taken from the commencement of the contro- 
versy on the subject of taxation was confirmed; the right 
of trial by jury of the vicinage demanded; the various 
charter privileges which had been assailed asserted; and the 
acts concerning Boston condemned. Desirous only of a 
redress of grievances, no measures were adopted but a non- 
consumption, non-importation, and non- exportation agree- 
ment, together with addresses to the people of England, to 
the inhabitants of British America, and to the king. Con- 
ciliatory as were these movements, the ministerial party in 
parliament rejected them, persisting in the terms they had 
for years dictated. Chatham's compromise failed and the 
fishery bill succeeded. At this critical period, of affairs 
(1775) General Gage resolved to destroy the stores and 
arms which the colonists had secured at Concord, a town 
but a short distance from Boston. A force of considerable 
strength was sent by him to that place, which effected his 
object after a brave resistance by an undisciplined militia. 
This contest and that of Lexington demonstrated to the 
colonists the necessity of making vigorous efforts to place 
themselves in an attitude of defence. Shortly afterwards 
a re-enforcement of British troops arrived, under the com- 
mand of Burgoyne, Howe, and Clinton. Gage issued a 
proclamation which, by offering peace on submission to all 
but Samuel Adams and John Hancock, was a signal for 
war. At the entrance of the peninsula of Charlestown 
was a height called Bunker Hill, the possession of which 
was of the utmost importance in case of hostilities. The 
colonial commander directed this to be secured. A thou- 
sand men were ordered to entrench it. By mistake they 
seized on a hill nearer. Boston, known as Breed's Hill. The 
British brought all their forces to bear on their antago- 



THE UKITED STATES OF AMERICA TO 1872. 311 

nists (June 17); but with such desperate courage did they 
resist that the post was maintained until the ammunition 
failed. Notwithstanding their success, the royal com- 
manders were convinced that their enemies were their 
equals except in the munitions of war. 

The first object of congress was to repel the injuries in- 
flicted on their constituents by the fishery act. Exporta- 
tions to the British possessions in the north, sales to Brit- 
ish fishermen, supplies to the British army, were inter- 
dicted. Means of defence were provided, and the com- 
mand of the continental forces was committed to the 
hands of George Washington, of Virginia. Still the repre- 
sentatives, feeling it to be their duty to place their position 
as well as the causes which had led to it fairly before the 
world, voted addresses to the neighboring powers and the 
home department. The commander-in-chief, regarding 
the northern frontiers as of the utmost importance, made 
arrangements for securing Ticonderoga and Canada. The 
former point was carried under the direction of Arnold 
and Allen. The latter failed, though Montgomery fell 
in attempting its accomplishment. Hard pressed by Wash- 
ington, the British abandoned Boston. Convinced of the 
impossibility of effecting a redress of grievances, congress 
proclaimed the Declaration of Independence (July 4, 1776). 
The resolutions of parliament had been formed with a 
view to a speedy termination of hostilities. Near one 
hundred thousand men, many of them German mercen- 
aries, had been drafted; a forfeiture of American ship- 
ping, as well as the impressment of American sailors, 
directed. Although unsuccessful in their assaults at the 
South, the British mastered the city of New York. Wash- 
ington was forced into Jersey and thence into Pennsyl- 
vania. These misfortunes reduced the cause of the Ameri- 
cans to the brink of destruction. A change, however, 



312 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIEE AND PKOPHECT. 

suddenly occurred. The American commander in the 
dead of night recrossed the Delaware, and by signal ad- 
vantages at Trenton and Princeton restored the confidence 
of his countrymen (Dec. 24, 1777). The British, foiled in 
their attempts on New Jersey and Pennsylvania, retired to 
Amboy and betook themselves to their fleet. Intending to 
approach Philadelphia by the Delaware Eiver, but fearing 
its navigation, the royal commander landed his forces in 
Maryland and proceeded with them over the country. 
They were met at the fords of the Brandy wine by Wash- 
ington's army, where a bloody struggle ensued in which 
the English were victorious. Amongst the wounded was 
General La Fayette a young French nobleman who in sup- 
port of the American cause had sacrificed the ease of his 
native court for the toils of a foreign camp. The posses- 
sion of Philadelphia by the British, the massacre of the 
Americans at Paoli, and their defeat at Germantown again 
cast a deep gloom over their concerns. From the North, 
however, where the English were defeated at Saratoga by 
General Gates, sprang sources of encouragement. 

All prospect of settlement with the mother-country being 
extinguished, France formed an alliance with America. 
Washington in conjunction with the French fleet prevented 
any depredations of the enemy, except those at Norwalk 
and Fairfield. Dreading that the foreign fleet might 
block up their squadron in the Delaware, the British left 
Philadelphia, notwithstanding the loss sustained at Eed 
Bank in securing it. In the progress of their land forces 
through Jersey to New York they were severely handled 
by their adversaries at Monmouth, Savannah was snatched 
from the Americans. The invaders incited the Indians to 
butcher a considerable number of the settlers of Wyoming. 
Charleston was captured by the English. Gates, the con- 
gressional commander, was defeated. Arnold turned trai- 



THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA TO 1872. 313 

tor. A sudden reverse in events restored the South, 
placed Cornwallis in the hands of Washington at York- 
town, and utterly ruined the British cause. A pacification 
was finally signed at Paris (1783). The treaty declared 
the thirteen colonies free, sovereign, and independent 
states. Their limits were marked by a line drawn from 
the northwest angle of Nova Scotia, passing toward one 
of the heads of the Connecticut Eiver, thence to Lake On- 
tario, through the middle of that lake and of Lakes Erie 
and Huron, to the Lake of the Woods, thence to the Mis- 
sissippi Eiver, which formed a boundary as far south as 
Fort Mobile and the borders of Florida. That river was 
left open to both nations. The right of taking fish in the 
Gulf of St. Lawrence and on the banks of Newfoundland 
was given to the Americans. Eestitution of property to 
the Tories was recommended to the states. Pondicherry 
and the settlements in the East Indies, in St. Lucia, and in 
Goree were restored to the French, who agreed to return 
all their conquests in the West Indies on the return of 
Tobago. The Spanish retained Minorca and Florida, the 
English Gibraltar, and the Dutch were protected in all 
their territories except Negapatam. 

The revolutionary struggle left the states in a condition 
which soon proved the insufficiency of the confederation 
by which they were united. Congress had no exclusive 
fund from which the arrears due the soldiery could be 
paid. Commerce was independent of its control. The 
only appeal was to the state legislatures, which were ren- 
dered totally inoperative by their divisions, as well as by 
the poverty of the people. The latter cause operated 
strongly in Massachusetts, where a large body of the citi- 
zens, choosing Daniel Shays as their leader, demanded a 
suspension of the laws in relation to the collection of 
debts and the emission of paper money. Prompt govern- 



314 OUTLIKE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AKD PROPHECY. 

ment measures put an end to this outbreak. A remedy 
for the prostrate condition to which the conflicting state 
regulations had subjected the commerce of the country was 
first suggested in a scheme by which the citizens of Vir- 
ginia and Maryland proposed to regulate the navigation of 
the Potomac Kiver and Chesapeake Bay. Commissioners 
appointed by these states met at Alexandria. It was pro- 
posed that a board with enlarged powers should be created. 
To this suggestion Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New York 
responded. The. commissioners of these states assembled 
soon afterwards at Annapolis and recommended the selec- 
tion of delegates by the state legislatures. The delegates 
thus chosen commenced their sessions (1787) by appoint- 
ing General Washington president. A form of govern- 
ment was published which secured to each state a 
constitution with limited powers, created a national es- 
tablishment with a distinctly defined jurisdiction, the 
executive functions of which were lodged in a president, 
who, together with the vice-president, was to be chosen 
every four years by electors assigned for that purpose by 
popular vote; the legislative functions of which were to be 
exercised by a congress consisting of a senate composed 
of two members elected by each state legislature for six 
years, of which body the vice-president was made speaker, 
and a house of representatives, elected every two years by 
the people of the states; the judicial functions of which 
were reposed in a bench of judges appointed by the presi- 
dent and confirmed by the senate, who were to hold their 
commissions during good behavior. Eleven states adopted 
the constitution; General Washington was elected the first 
president; and the two remaining states acceded in the 
course of a year. The state liabilities incurred by the late 
war were assumed by the general government; the principal 
to be paid by the sales of public lands, the interest to be 



THE UNITED STATES OF AMEEICA TO 1872. 315 

met by a tax on articles of luxury and liquors distilled in 
the country. A national bank was established; the war 
with the southern and northwestern Indians terminated; 
an outbreak in western Pennsylvania in consequence of the 
tax on domestic liquors suppressed; and a treaty effected 
with England by which that kingdom agreed to surrender 
the posts claimed by the republic and make compensation 
for illegal seizures, while the United States were obligated 
to pay a sum of money to Britain in trust for debts due 
by American citizens to her subjects. The free navigation 
of the Mississippi, together with commercial privileges at 
New Orleans, was obtained from Spain. French repub- 
licans expected assistance from the states in their struggle 
with England. Having recalled the minister appointed by 
the dethroned monarch, Genet was deputed. Keceived afc 
Charleston in a highly flattering manner both by the gov- 
ernor and citizens, he was emboldened to vigorous exer- 
tions in behalf of his government. The president issued 
orders to defeat the ambassador's projects, on a remon- 
strance against them by the British minister. The succes- 
sors of Genet were less violent, but equally determined to 
involve the states in the quarrel of their government. 
Disappointed in this design, France assailed the shipping of 
the states. The president, however, determined to avoid 
a rupture with the republic, recalled Mr. Monroe and sent 
Mr. Pinckney minister to Paris. At this juncture of affairs 
John Adams was elected president, Thomas Jefferson 
vice-president. Mr. Pinckney's rejection was soon an- 
nounced; a special meeting of congress called; and Mr. 
Marshall and Mr. Gerry united to the French embassage. 
The directory refused to accredit the new ministers. Im- 
mediate preparation was made for war; the army increased, 
Washington placed in command; the navy strengthened; 
enlarged powers given to the president in reference to for- 



316 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OE EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

eign residents and seditions movements. Actions took 
place between the American frigate Constellation and the 
French frigates L'Insurgent and La Vengeance, in which 
the first was victorious. The universal sorrow consequent 
on this melancholy breach between the two nations was 
increased by the death of the illustrious Washington (Dec. 
14, 1799). A treaty of peace was concluded with Napoleon 
in the following September, which congress confirmed at 
its first session in Washington. 

Thomas Jefferson was chosen president and Aaron Burr 
vice-president after thirty-five ballots in the house of rep- 
resentatives. A war with Tripoli humbled the pride and 
diminished the power of the bashaw. Louisiana was pur- 
chased from France for fifteen millions of dollars. Unex- 
ampled prosperity had attended the citizens of the United 
States in maritime operations. From small beginnings 
they advanced from one state of improvement to another, 
until the recent wars of Europe threw into their possession 
its entire carrying trade. Sudden events involved them in 
disaster. The Berlin and Milan decrees of Napoleon de- 
prived them of British trade; the retaliatory orders of the 
English council produced equally calamitous consequences 
upon their commercial dealings with France. England 
increased these embarrassments by insisting on her right 
to search American vessels and impress British seamen 
found on board of them. The reparation for the exercise 
of the latter authority on board of the Chesapeake was 
counterbalanced by the excessive increase of contraband 
articles, as well as by a refined system of blockade. No 
alternative was left for the states but an embargo. Popu- 
lar complaint soon compelled congress to substitute for this 
policy an interdiction of commercial intercourse with 
France and England. Mr. Madison, who was elected 
president at the expiration of Mr. Jefferson's terms, finally 



THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA TO 1872. 317 

proposed to these powers that the last measure should be 
repealed if they would abandon the acts which had given 
rise to international difficulties. Napoleon acceded, but 
the British continued their offensive orders. "War with 
England was the result (a.d. 1812). The first attack of 
the republic was on Canada, under the direction of Gen- 
eral Hull. The improper conduct of the commander ren- 
dered it a failure. This advantage of the British was 
counterbalanced by their naval losses in the capture of the 
Guerriere and Frolic, the Macedonian and the Java. An- 
other attempt was made on Canada by General Winchester, 
who was defeated at Frenchtown. General Pike was more 
successful at York. Notwithstanding the triumph of 
British arms at the head of the Miami, at Fort George, 
and in some naval engagements, their glory became at least 
questionable by the victory of Chauncey on Lake On- 
tario, of Perry on Lake Erie, the consequent defeat of 
Proctor, the repossession of Michigan by Harrison, and 
the success of Scott and Brown at Niagara. Through the 
meditation of Eussia conferences were opened at Ghent 
between the contending powers. Hostilities were, however, 
continued. The British defeated the Americans at Bla- 
densburg, making an inroad on Washington; were unsuc- 
cessful at Baltimore; sustained an overthrow on Lake 
Champlain and at Plattsburg; and were routed by Jackson 
at New Orleans. Previous to the last event peace had 
been settled by the treaty of Ghent, which stipulated that 
all conquests should be mntually restored; that disputes on 
boundaries should be referred to persons chosen by the two 
nations; that the savages should be placed in the condition 
they held before the war; and that both parties should use 
their endeavors to abolish the slave-trade. 

The peace of Europe, by rendering each power the con- 
ductor of its own commerce, together with the excessive 



318 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

speculations of local institutions during the war at home, 
produced embarrassments in the condition of the United 
States. Eesolved to sustain the country against all emer- 
gencies, congress revoked the policy by which it was in- 
duced some years before to refuse charter privileges to a 
national bank. An institution of that description was cre- 
ated to continue for twenty-one years, with a capital of 
thirty-five millions of dollars. Domestic manufactures 
were protected, whilst the navy was increased. During 
the succeeding administrations of Mr. Monroe and Mr. 
Adams the national fortifications were increased; the 
number of the states was augmented; internal improve- 
ments advanced; treaties of commerce formed; popular 
gratitude evinced to La Fayette; sympathy aroused for the 
suffering Greeks; the slave-trade suppressed; and the Mex- 
ican gulf rendered a safe thoroughfare for the traffic of the 
world by the destruction of the hordes of pirates which had 
long infested its waters. The overthrow of the national 
bank; the bold measures of the Nullifiers; the establish- 
ment of the sub-treasury system; the northern and south- 
ern Indian wars, marked the terms of General Jackson and 
Mr. Van Buren. The death of General Harrison prevented 
a radical change in the measures of the two preceding ad- 
ministrations. The protective system was re-established; 
the northeastern boundary determined; and the bank-bill 
vetoed while Mr. Tyler had charge of national affairs. 
Oregon and Texas difficulties occupied the term of Mr. 
Polk. The northwestern or Oregon boundary had been a 
subject of discussion for nearly half a century.* This pro- 
tracted controversy was at last terminated by a convention 
with England (1846). The boundary between the two 
nations was fixed at the forty-ninth parallel of latitude to 

* Greenhough's Memoirs. 



THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA TO 1872. 319 

the middle of the channel which separates the continent 
from Vancouver's Island and thence southwardly to the 
Pacific, said channel and straits to remain free and open 
to both nations; the navigation of the Columbia Eiver is 
reserved to the Hudson Bay Company and British subjects 
trading with it, and their rights of property are to be re- 
spected, while the Americans have the privilege of pur- 
chasing the lands held by the Puget Sound Agricultural 
Company, at such price as may be agreed upon between the 
parties. 

Mexico, being desirous to populate its northeastern ter- 
ritory, after the adoption of the free constitution offered 
extensive grants of land to settlers. Inducements thus 
alluring drew to the soil of Texas an enterprising popula- 
tion from the United States.* Application was made to 
the congress of Mexico for admission as a department in the 
confederacy. Shortly after the rejection of this applica- 
tion the federal union was succeeded by the central govern- 
ment. The people of Texas protested against the change; 
declared their independence; and hostilities commenced. 
The battle of San Jacinto terminated the contest in favor 
of the republic, which was acknowledged both in Europe 
and America. Conscious of its own weakness, Texas soon 
sought to be admitted into the confederation of the United 
States. It was, however, deemed advisable that the re- 
public should make trial of its own strength before it be- 
came a portion of that establishment. A constitution was 
adopted; officers chosen; laws enacted; an army and navy 
established; and government administered. Affairs having 
thus progressed for some years, Mexico offered to acknowl- 
edge the independence of Texas provided it would not 
attach itself to any other government. This offer being 



-# 



Slidell's Letter, 



320 OUTLIKE EVOLUTION OF EMPIEE AND PROPHECY. 

declined, the republic was received into the Union. Mexico 
prepared to assert its sovereignty over the new state. 
After some ineffectual attempts at negotiation hostilities 
commenced. In the course of a few months Matamoras, 
Santa Fe, Tampico, Tobasco, and Monterey fell into the 
hands of the Union, the forces of which, commanded by 
General Taylor, defeated the whole Mexican army under 
Santa Anna at Buena Vista. General Scott, the com- 
mander-in-chief of the United States army, was no less 
fortunate in the east, carrying St. Juan d'Ulloa, captur- 
ing Vera Cruz, overpowering Santa Anna at Oerro Gordo, 
and mastering Mexico, the capital. Peace was restored by 
the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (a.d. 1848), which fixed 
the line between the two nations at a point in the Gulf 
of Mexico three leagues from shore opposite the mouth of 
the Eio Grande; from thence up the deepest channel 
of that river till it strikes the southern boundary of New 
Mexico; thence westward along the southern boundary of 
New Mexico to its westward termination; thence north- 
ward along the western line of New Mexico until it inter- 
sects the first branch of the river Gila, down the middle 
of that river until it empties into the Eio Colorado, and 
thence following the division-line between Upper and 
Lower California to the Pacific. The accession of Cali- 
fornia, by opening the gold regions to the enterprise of 
all the citizens of the republic, presented to congress 
the determination of momentous interests. Slave-states 
claimed an equal right to the common acquisition with 
those in which slavery had no existence. Sharp conten- 
tions ensued, which congress determined by leaving the 
question of slavery to the citizens of California, and by 
securing the South in their right to arrest their fugitive 
slaves wherever found on free territory. The adminis- 
tration of Mr, Fillmore, which was for the greater part of 



THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA TO 1872. 321 

the term of the lamented General Taylor, was succeeded 
by that of Franklin Pierce, elected by the votes of all the 
states save four. In an early period of this administra- 
tion its supporters procured the passage of the act consti- 
tuting Nebraska and Kansas into territories, which repealed 
as to these portions of the republic the provisions of the 
Missouri Compromise passed by congress in 1820, by which 
slavery is interdicted north of latitude 36° 30'. A violent 
contest at once arose all over the states which not only dis- 
tracted the term of President Pierce, but supplied the ma- 
terial by which the subsequent presidential canvass was 
conducted, in which James Buchanan was successful. 

The agitation which resulted in the elevation of Mr. 
Buchanan to power continued throughout his administra- 
tion. It was much embittered by the judgment of the 
supreme court in the Dred Scott case, virtually determin- 
ing that slaves could be transported to any of the territo- 
ries of the republic at the will of their owners. The efforts 
of the South to plant slavery in Kansas under executive 
patronage also added fuel to the flame. Popular excite- 
ment at this period became intense. The Democratic 
party favored, the Republican party opposed, these meas- 
ures. At the succeeding election in the fall of 1860 the 
Democratic candidates of the two branches of their seve- 
ral conventions — Messrs. Douglas and Breckinridge — had 
jointly the majority of the popular vote; but Mr. Lincoln, 
the Republican candidate, receiving a greater number of 
the electoral votes than either of the other candidates, 
was declared duly elected president. Before his inaugura- 
tion in the following March (1861) the states of Virginia, 
North and South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, 
Florida, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, and Missouri with- 
drew their representatives from both branches of congress; 
seceded from the national union; formed a constitution 



322 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

providing in the strongest terms for the protection of 
slavery; elected their own officers, of which the chief ex- 
ecutive was Jefferson Davis; and proclaimed themselves to 
the world as the " Confederate States of America." Fail- 
ing to obtain a recognition of their independence from the 
United States government, they levied a large military 
force and prepared for war. Succeeding in the capture of 
Fort; Sumter in the harbor of Charleston, the Confeder- 
ates were emboldened to vigorous exertions in the North. 
Mr. Lincoln, not fully appreciating the powers of the re- 
bellious adversary, placed in the field an army of only 
seventy-five thousand men for three months' service. But, 
determined to make the best possible use of this small 
body, he at once prudently covered Washington and 
pressed forward upon Eichmond, the capital of the Confed- 
erates. A disastrous panic in the Union army, after a 
fairly won battle at Bull Eun, gave the Southern power 
the credit of victory. 

Impressed now with the importance of the contest, the 
United States government made the amplest preparations 
for deciding it. An army of over half a million of men 
was placed in service; General McClellan entrusted with the 
chief command; every munition of war provided; and a 
proper disposition of the forces made from the Atlantic to 
the utmost exposed western border of the republic. The 
policy of the Union at this period became not only the ex- 
tinction of rebellion, but also of slavery. Early in the 
year 1862 General McClellan made an advance upon the 
rebel capital. For some weeks its doom appeared cer- 
tain; but a reverse occurring in consequence of the able 
movements of Generals Lee and Jackson in the rebel service, 
the Union forces were only saved from utter destruction 
by the superior talents of their commander. Still the 
danger was imminent, and the administration was induced 



THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA TO 1872. 323 

to withdraw General McClellan from the command and com- 
mit the direction of the army to General Pope. In falling 
back on Washington another disaster occurred at Bull 
Kun. Mushed with his success, General Lee made rapid 
advances northward, intending, if possible, to seize Phila- 
delphia, Baltimore, and Washington, and at once to end the 
war. The hopes of the rebel chief, however, were blasted 
by a crushing repulse which he received at Antietam 
from the Union army, now for the second time under 
General McClellan. The lateness of the season, together 
with the crippled condition of his forces in consequence 
of the recent fight, were alleged by General McClellan as 
reasons for not pursuing the adversary with a promptness 
which, in the opinion of the administration, might have 
turned his repulse into a capture. In consequence of this 
difference between the commander and the president 
General McClellan was superseded, and the victor of New- 
bern, General Burnside, appointed in his place. A vigorous 
pursuit of the retreating enemy was enjoined upon the 
new commander by the government and expected by the 
people. As soon as the season and circumstances would 
allow, an advance was made upon the retiring foe. The 
catastrophe to the Union army at Fredericksburg, and 
that which occurred a few months later at Chancellorsville, 
when General Hooker was in command, again reversed the 
condition of the belligerents. General Lee now made a more 
serious inroad upon the North than formerly, and, sweep- 
ing everything before him, actually penetrated as far as 
Gettysburg, in the State of Pennsylvania. At this point 
he encountered the army of the Potomac (July 2, 1863), 
under the command of General Meade, where he was utterly 
defeated and compelled to make a hasty retreat to his own 
borders. 

While the army in the East protected the capital and 



324 OUTLINE EVOLUTION" OE EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

prevented inroads on the North, the navy and the army of 
the West regained the dominions of the republic and dealt 
death-blows to its enemies. The navy, placed in the best 
condition for service, destroyed that wondrous arm of 
rebel power, the Merrimac; established a strict blockade 
along the eastern seaboard and the gulf-coast; captured 
many points of importance in these quarters; took New 
Orleans, and cleared the Mississippi Eiver, under the 
command of Foote and Porter. 

The army in the West was not behind the navy in the 
importance of its advances. In Missouri and Arkansas the 
rebellion was crushed, after a series of bloody conflicts 
directed by the talents of Generals Lyon, Fremont, Sigel, 
Pope, Curtis, and other illustrious leaders, which termina- 
ted in the decided victory at Pea Eidge. The entire ter- 
ritory from the Ohio River to Vicksburg and Atlanta was 
in less than three years rid of the rebel forces by the 
armies of Generals Grant, Buell, Rosecrans, Hooker, Hal- 
leck, Thomas, and Sherman. In the progress of these 
grand achievements occurred the battles at Somerset, Forts 
Henry and Donelson, Shiloh, Knoxville, Murfreesborough, 
Corinth, Jackson, Chattanooga, Vicksburg, Atlanta. After 
the surrender of Vicksburg, General Grant, the leading 
chieftain in this stupendous work, was created lieutenant- 
general of the whole Union army, and took command of 
the department in the East. An advance on Richmond 
was at once commenced. Lee being driven back by the 
bloody battle of the Wilderness, Richmond was soon closely 
environed by the Union forces. Its wily defender again 
tried to relieve himself by diverting the foe to the North, 
in order to suppress an inroad on its borders by General 
Early; but the scheme was effectually checked by General 
Sheridan, who, in several brilliant engagements, over- 
powered the adversary. 



THE UKITED STATES OE AMERICA TO 1872. 325 

Shortly subsequent to the fall of Atlanta commenced 
General Sherman's expedition through the heart of the 
rebel states to Savannah, in the state of Georgia, and 
thence to Goldsborough, in the state of North Carolina — a 
military exploit not surpassed in any period of the world, 
and in reflecting on which the mind is at a loss whether 
to admire most the completeness of the execution or the 
grandeur of the conception. The immediate results of 
this bold work were the capture of Savannah, the surren- 
der of Charleston, which had resisted all assaults for over 
two years, as well as the downfall of intermediate strong- 
holds and the destruction of invaluable rebel stores. These 
Union successes, together with the conquest of Fort Fisher 
by Commodore Porter and General Terry, rendered the cause 
of the Confederates hopeless, and Eichmond was shortly 
afterwards evacuated and all the rebel armies surrendered. 

The joy which abounded throughout the republic at 
the fortunate termination of the war was suddenly checked 
by the melancholy tidings of President Lincoln's assassina- 
tion. But for the liberal conditions accorded to the 
Southern leaders at Fortress Monroe by Mr. Lincoln, now 
over a month in his second term (April 14, 1865), it might 
be supposed that chagrin at their fate led them to insti- 
gate and arm the vile assassin to destroy the leader of the 
North; but, inasmuch as they were the most interested of 
all persons in preserving the life of the president, they can 
hardly be suspected of complicity in the nefarious act by 
which it was destroyed* 

Five hours after Mr. Lincoln expired, the vice-president, 
Andrew Johnson, was sworn into office by the chief-jus- 
tice, and entered upon the discharge of the duties of the 
chief executive of the government. 

After the trial and execution of the assassins of Mr. 
Lincoln, the first matter which claimed the attention of 



326 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

the president was the settlement of the states of the South. 
The policy pursued was of a pacific character, requiring 
only the extinction of slavery from the states and restor- 
ing their citizens to all their political rights upon taking 
the oath of allegiance, with few exceptions: in which cases 
liberal terms of pardon were extended to them. At a 
subsequent congress this scheme of settlement was repu- 
diated, and it was determined by that body not to admit 
representation from the seceding states until they not only 
agreed to abolish slavery, but to amend their constitutions 
so as to declare the Union perpetual; disavow the war- 
debt of the south, as well as guarantee that of the North; 
extend equal protection to all the citizens of the United 
States in all the states; and apportion representation ac- 
cording to the number of inhabitants in each state without 
reference to color, but excluding Indians. These terms 
being rejected by the South, congress, at its next session, 
declared the seceding states under military law until they 
should conform their constitutions and elections to the 
principles contained in the rejected amendments, and di- 
rected the president to appoint in each of the ten districts 
military officers possessed of supreme civil powers and who 
should at once proceed to form registries of voters, pro- 
cure the election of representatives who could be received 
in congress, and provide for the perfect restoration of the 
states in the Union. On these terms a settlement was 
finally effected between the North and the South, but not 
until after the election of General Grant to the presidency 
(1868). The rights of citizenship were extended to colored 
persons in all the states early in this administration. 



American nations connected with the franks. 327 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

AMERICAN NATIONS CONNECTED WITH BRANCHES OF THE 
EMPIRE OF THE FRANKS. 

Mexico was governed by the Spaniards from the con- 
quest of Cortes (1521) to the commencement of the nine- 
teenth century. At the latter period, the viceroy Don 
Jose Ifcurrigaray, having received contradictory orders 
from Spain, called a junta composed of representatives 
from each province. Offended at this act, because it raised 
the Creoles to a level with the European population, the 
Spaniards transported the viceroy. In revenge the Creoles 
resolved to overthrow the power of Venegas, the succeed- 
ing viceroy. Hidalgo and Eayon, who successively headed 
the revolutionary movements, were defeated by the Span- 
iards. Morelos, though for a time more fortunate than his 
predecessors, was eventually overpowered, captured, and 
shot. Teran and Mina made the last feeble effort in the 
expiring cause of the Creoles. 

The revolution in Spain induced the clergy of Mexico 
to favor a plan of separation from the parent-power.* Don 
Angustin Iturbide became the leader of the movement, and 
eventually emperor of Mexico. The harsh conduct of 
Iturbide offended Santa Anna, Governor of Vera Cruz, 
who, possessing himself of the military influence, expelled 
the emperor. A federal constitution, similar to that of 
the United States, was adopted (1824). Victoria was 

* Modern Traveller, Vol. VI. Folsom's Mexico. Gregory's His. 
of Mexico, America, and West Indies (Long, Porter & Co. ; Lond. 
ed., 1845). 



328 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

chosen president. The Spanish power was totally sub- 
verted. Pedraza came to the helm; Guerrero snatched it 
from him, but was soon compelled to give place to Busta- 
mente. Pedraza again enjoyed a temporary power upon 
the revolt of Santa Anna, who, as soon as he had obtained 
sufficient strength, abolished the federal constitution and 
established a central government, of which he was the 
chief. During the imprisonment of the dictator after the 
battle of San Jacinto, Bustamente held the reigns; but on 
the release of Santa Anna, he again took the direction of 
affairs into his own hands. Severity in the mode of col- 
lecting the appropriation for the invasion of Texas ren- 
dering Santa Anna unpopular, Herrera succeeded to power. 
Losing the esteem of the army, the chief gave place to 
Paredes, their new favorite. Subsequent distractions ele- 
vated and humbled Herrera and his successor, Farias; 
eventually bringing Santa Anna to the presidency (1853). 
A revolution headed by Alvarez brought that chief to power 
in the course of less than two years; but the fluctuation in- 
cident to popular feeling in this republic in a short space 
of time elevated Comonfort to the possession of power. 
Political power is constantly changing hands in Mexico. 
The sword is always at work. A hireling soldiery are ever 
ready to elevate a new favorite. Comonfort was not able 
long to retain their regard. The superior fortunes of Zul- 
vago enabled him to win their smiles. A few days of ter- 
rible havoc at the capital caused him to rise upon the 
downfall of his rival (1858). But he fell as suddenly as he 
rose, and gave place to Miramon; whose power was soon 
overthrown by Juarez, during whose administration the 
invasion of the French, English, and Spanish occurred 
that brought Maximilian of Austria to the possession of 
imperial power, which, after his overthrow and execution, 
yielded to the forces of Juarez (1865). 



AMERICAN NATIONS CONNECTED WITH THE FRANKS. 329 

Yucatan,* a portion of the republic of Mexico, took 
decided steps against the central system of Santa Anna. 
The contest was maintained for years under the command 
of Santiago Iman. Valladolid falling into the hands of 
the insurgents, their cause was triumphant. A congress 
was convoked, a constitution adopted, laws regulating trade 
enacted, and the state entered upon the enjoyment of an 
independence which Mexico has not been able to destroy. 

The five central states have held a precarious power, 
which has been continually liable to the influences of their 
more powerful neighbors on the north and south. Poli- 
tical contests among its chieftains ran so high as eventually 
to cause one of them to offer inducements of a flattering 
description to the citizens of other lands to aid him in fast- 
ening his sway upon his countrymen. William Walker, a 
citizen of the United States, raised a small force composed 
of Europeans and Americans, with which he appeared in 
Nicaragua. Considerable success attended his movements 
for some time. In the end, however, the natives were 
roused to decided measures of opposition, and the invaders 
were expelled. 

Brazil,! was placed in the possession of Portugal in the 
first year of the sixteenth century by a storm which 
diverted the fleet under the command of Cabral from its 
course. The troubles in Portugal forced its monarch to 
the shores of the colony (1807). So rapid was the progress 
of Brazil in improvement that in nine years from the 
arrival of John VI. it was elevated to the rank of a king- 
dom. European changes requiring the presence of the 
sovereign in Portugal, his son, Dom Pedro, took the re- 
gency. Convinced that further connection with the parent- 
power would impede its prosperity, Brazil became an inde- 

* Norman's Yucatan. f Kidder's Sketches of Brazil. 



330 OUTLINE EVOLUTIOtf OF EMPIRE AKD PROPHECY. 

pendent empire with Dom Pedro as its chief (1822). A 
constitution establishing monarchy, but lodging the legis- 
lative power in two representative bodies, was proclaimed. 
Montevideo was annexed, the rebellion in Pernambuco was 
overcome, and the independence of the new empire was 
acknowledged by the parent-power. A reverse, however, 
occurred in the affairs of Dom Pedro I. Montevideo with- 
drew from the confederation; the court measures became 
unpopular; and the emperor was compelled to abdicate in 
favor of his young son. Troublesome regencies followed. 
Order was eventually restored by the coronation of the 
emperor Dom Pedro II. A reformation of the criminal 
code, together with many salutary changes, rendered the 
emperor popular. Revolutionary movements have proved 
unsuccessful. 

The people of the La Plata, indisposed to submit to the 
colonial restrictions of Spain, commenced revolutionary 
movements (a.d. 1810). A junta composed of Americans 
was created, into the hands of which the viceroy resigned 
his power. The first decrees of this body were published 
in the name of Ferdinand VII. This appearance of loyalty 
was retained until the concurrence of most of the depart- 
ments was procured, when it was abandoned and the agents 
of the crown sent to Spain or the Canary Islands. Para- 
guay* was formed into a separate republic. The Argen- 
tine states f created a federal union. They were distracted 
at the commencement of their existence by the contentions 
between the federals and the unitarians; the former con- 
tending for a central government, the latter for a constitu- 
tion similar to that of the United States. General Rosas, 
the champion of the federals, got possession of power in 
Buenos Ayres. Civil war raged through many of the 

* Robinson's Paraguay. f King's Argentine Republic. 



AMERICAN KATIONS CONNECTED WITH THE FRAKKS. 331 

states. In the interior, the unitarian leader, Paz, defeated 
his enemies and maintained Cordova, his capital, against 
all their assaults. A congress at Cordova denounced Eosas, 
who appealed to arms and reduced the insurgent city. 
Seeking to attach Montevideo to the republic, of which he 
claimed to be of right the head, Rosas incurred the anger 
of France. Buenos Ayres was put under blockade. Tak- 
ing advantage of this event, the unitarians of the interior 
threw off the yoke of the dictator, but were unable to main- 
tain their stand. The Montevideans invoked the assistance 
of France and England, which frustrated the designs of 
the tyrant, who was eventually overthrown by the arms of 
Urquiza, whose sway was more brief than that of his pre- 
decessor. 

The Peruvians* annihilated the power of Spain under 
the command of Simon Bolivar by the victory of Aya- 
cucho (1824). The departments of Upper Peru constituted 
a republic, adopting a constitution which placed the law- 
making power in a legislature chosen by popular suffrage, 
the executive in a president selected in the same manner, 
aided by a ministry of his own adoption and by a council 
of state nominated by the legislature. In honor of the 
distinguished soldier by whom their independence was 
achieved, the confederacy adopted Bolivia as their national 
name. The departments of Peru properly so called estab- 
lished a government similar in its provisions to that of 
their neighbors. The political condition of both republics 
became unsettled in a short time. Discussions as to cen- 
tral and federal powers began to be agitated. The natural 
endowments, educational advantages, military experience, 
and political resources of Santa Cruz, president of Bolivia, 
enabled him to proceed step by step from the position of a 

*For. Qu. Review, No. 39, 1837. Anier. and West Indies. 



332 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

citizen to the possession of supreme power both in Peru 
and Bolivia. The inroad of the chieftain, however, on the 
constitution of his country was not permanent. Equally 
impotent have been the recent assaults of Spain both on 
this republic and on Chili, its southern neighbor. 

New Granada* struck the blow for independence when 
Spain was invaded by France. In the first effort the 
Spanish forces were triumphant, the patriots scattered, and 
their congress dispersed. A fortunate event saved the 
republic. Simon Bolivar, at the head of a strong army, 
forced his way through appalling obstacles to Santa Fe, 
and entered it in triumph. 

Venezuelaf proclaimed its independence during the 
troubles in Spain. A congress convened at Caracas estab- 
lished a government. After repeated defeats Simon Bolivar 
was successful in maintaining the cause of freedom. The 
liberator was invested with the presidency of the republic. 
Contemplating a common league, Bolivar invited all the 
states of North and South America to meet in congress 
at Panama. Some assembled; others, questioning the purity 
of his motives, declined ; while a general feeling of distrust 
was eventually engendered which brought the liberator 
to a disgrace in which he ended his days. Venezuela, 
New Granada, Ecuador, and Quito united together in a 
confederacy denominated Colombia (1819). The congress 
of the republic consisted of two houses: one a senate, com- 
posed of members from each state; the other a house of 
representatives, elected by popular vote. No sooner was 
the common foe vanquished than this state of things 
was disturbed. Quito first seceded from the union two 
years after its formation. Venezuela followed in seven 
years; the remaining states took a similar course in the 

* Family History, in loc. f Amer. and West In., in loc. 



AMERICAN NATIONS CONNECTED WITH THE FRANKS. 333 

space of twelve years. Each state still retains its republi- 
can form of government, which is administered by an 
executive and a legislature chosen by popular suffrage. 

In Chili* the revolutionary forces were scattered; but 
the leaders fled to Buenos Ayres, where they raised another 
army. The battles of Oacabuco and Maypu followed, in 
which the republicans were triumphant (1817). Domestic 
strifes disturbed the country for years. A form of govern- 
ment was eventually settled which provides for a supreme 
director, as well as a legislature consisting of two branches, 
which are elected by popular vote. 



The improvement in the condition of the world has been 
very rapid since the Reformation. There has been more 
accomplished to promote science, to extend the arts, to 
advance civil and religious liberty, and to increase trade, 
commerce, and travel within the last three hundred and 
fifty years than was effected by both pagan and papal Rome 
during the two thousand years they swayed the destinies of 
mankind. 

In the first days of Protestantism its advocates were, like 
the papists, proscriptive. However, as they became better 
acquainted with the Scriptures they imbibed and put in 
practice the mild teachings of the Divine Master. The 
Princes of Orange and Henry IV. of France led the way in 
the noble work of religious toleration. The Puritans of 
England, who fled from the tyranny of Mary to the Low 
Countries, adopted the liberal views of the Dutch, and 
on their return in the reign of Elizabeth openly main- 
tained the duty of forbearance towards those who dif- 
fered from them on religious points. But upon their 
establishment in New England they were guilty of enor- 

*Fam. His., in loc. 



334 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

mous atrocities on such as dissented from their sectarian 
dogmas. Nevertheless one of their number, who had suf- 
fered the full measure of their mistaken zeal, is entitled 
to the honor of first announcing the legitimate principles 
of religious liberty. This distinguished man, for forty 
years the revered pastor of the church of Providence, Ehode 
Island, openly maintained "that the exercise of private 
judgment was a natural and sacred right; that the civil 
magistrate has no compulsive jurisdiction in the concerns 
of religion; and that the punishment of any person on ac- 
count of his opinions is an encroachment on conscience 
and an act of persecution."* These humane sentiments 
gradually pervaded all the colonies. After the revolution 
they were incorporated into the federal constitution and be- 
came the organic law of the republic. The United States of 
America, therefore, are fairly entitled to the credit of hav- 
ing inaugurated an era in the evolution of empire which 
must eventually affect for the better the religious and 
political interests of the whole human race. These facts 
properly considered throw much light upon the figurative 
language of Daniel and John.f 

The events of the age are of a significant character. A 
crisis has arrived which indicates changes in the moral, 
religious, and intellectal condition of mankind that at no 
very distant period must produce a total revolution in hu- 
man affairs. Serfdom is extinguished in Europe; slavery 
abolished, as well in the British dominions as in the United 
States; and the slave-trade is a crime. 

Already nations have been born in a day. The savages 
of the Sandwich Islands have within half a century aban- 

*Rol. His of Am., ch. x. Neal's His. of N. Eng., p. 141. Roger 
Williams. 
fDan. xii. 4. Rev. xiv.-xx. 



AMERICAN NATIONS CONNECTED WITH THE FRANKS. 335 

doned the degradation of the past and become as civilized 
and Christianized as any nation on earth. Many large 
Indian tribes of America, whose sons and daughters were 
from time immemorial but little above the brute, have for- 
saken their migratory mode of life and become models of 
every social virtue. Events of an equally important char- 
acter have occurred in Asia. India is in a condition which 
clearly indicates that the faith of the false prophet and the 
dominion of the native priest have passed their culminating 
points. Japan has received with delight the news of a 
better moral and religious system than she possessed. In 
China the middle wall of partition which separated her 
from the science and religion of Christendom has at last 
been broken down, and all her borders are now open to 
the approaches of truth.* Even downtrodden Africa 
has begun to shake herself from the slumber of ages, 
and her cheerless wastes have become the abodes of civil- 
ized men. If with the limited instrumentalities already 
employed such have been the triumphs of the Truth, it 
is fair to presume when the combined energies of Chris- 
tendom shall be employed in the work of the world's eman- 
cipation that superstition, idolatry, and oppression will be 
dissipated and the daylight of millennial bliss break upon 
the kindreds of mankind. 

In review of the events of history in all ages of the 
world, the language of that eminent scholar and distin- 
guished author, Bishop Newton, is remarkably appropriate. 
{i We have seen/' observes he, " the descendants of Shem 
and Japheth ruling and enlarged in Asia and Europe, and 
the curse of servitude attending the descendants of Ham 
in Africa. We have seen the posterity of Ishmael multi- 

* Hue's China. Orme's His. of India. Eev. xx. Is. liii. Num- 
bers xiv. 21. Dan. ii. 44, 45. 



336 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

plied exceedingly and become a great nation in the Arabians, 
yet living like wild men and shifting from place to place in 
the wilderness; their hand against every man, and every 
man's hand against them, and still dwelling an independent 
and free people in the presence of all their brethren and 
in the presence of all their enemies. We have seen the 
family of Esau totally extinct, and that of Jacob subsisting 
at this day; the sceptre departed from Judah, and the 
people living nowhere in authority, everywhere in subjec- 
tion; punished severely for their infidelity and disobedience 
to their great prophet like unto Moses; plucked from off their 
own land and removed into all the kingdoms of the earth; 
oppressed and spoiled evermore, and made a proverb and a 
by- word among all nations, and their land lying desolate 
and themselves cut off from being the people of God, while 
the Gentiles are advanced in their room. We have seen 
Nineveh so completely destroyed that the place thereof is 
not and cannot be known; Babylon made a desolation for- 
ever, a possession for the bittern and pools of water; Tyre 
become like the top of a rock, a place for fishers to spread 
their nets upon; and Egypt a base kingdom, the basest of 
kingdoms and still tributary and subject to strangers. 
We have seen the four great empires of the world [evolved 
according to prophecy] ; the fourth and last, which was 
greater and more powerful than any of the former, divided 
in the western part thereof into ten lesser kingdoms, and 
among them a power with a triple crown diverse from the 
first, with a mouth speaking very great things, and with a 
look more stout than his fellows, speaking great words 
against the Most High and changing times and laws. We 
have seen that power cast down the truth to the ground 
and prosper in practice and destroy the holy people, not 
regarding the God of his fathers nor the desire of wives, 
but honoring Mahuzzim — God's protectors or saints' pro- 



NATIONAL PROGRESS IN EUROPE AND AMERICA. 337 

tectors — and causing the priests of Mahuzzim to rule over 
many and to divide the land for gain. We have seen the 
Turks stretching forth their hand over the eastern portion 
of the Roman Empire in Asia, Europe, and Africa, the 
Arabians still escaping out of their hands."* 

We now behold both pope and Turk, who were un- 
known two thousand years ago, fully manifested according 
to the foreshado wings of prophecy, with the doom of pro- 
phecy hanging over their heads ! Who can doubt but that 
at the appointed time " God will dash them in pieces like 
a potter's vessel," just as he has done with all the enemies 
of the truth and the world's advancement who have 
flourished and fallen in former ages ? 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

NATIONAL PROGRESS IN EUROPE AND AMERICA FROM 
THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE OF THE ROMANS IN THE 
WEST TO THE PRESENT TIMES. 

At the fall of the Roman Empire in the West, Europe 
exchanged a military despotism for a military democracy. 
The Northern invaders were directed by chieftains whose 
claims to command arose from their superior characters as 
soldiers, f Conformably to a principle universally received 
among them, they seized their conquests as common 
property. Wherever they settled, the army was considered 
still in existence, being arranged under its proper officers, 
who in return for the land granted them by their general 

*New.*Dis., Conclusion, p. 625. 

f Robertson's Charles V. : View of the State of Europe. Tacitus' 
Man. of Germans. Rus. Mod. Eu., Vol. I. p. 189. Kolrausch. 



338 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

held themselves prepared to reassemble their forces on his 
call. A similar obligation to that upon which the general 
granted the land to the subordinate officers was imposed 
by the latter on their dependants. In the course of time 
personal attendance upon the chieftain becoming onerous, 
exemption was purchased by the payment of pecuniary 
assessments, denominated scutages, tallages, and sub- 
sidies.* Thus originated the feudal system, which, although 
excellent for the purposes of defence, was sadly defective 
in its bearings on the domestic condition of a state. The 
feudal lord exercising the right to coin money was inces- 
santly engaged in private warfare. Conquest emboldening 
him to one assertion of privilege after another, eventually 
all subordination was subverted. Eevenge became the 
motive, the sword the means, by which judicial proceedings 
were originated and executed. 

Christianity was adopted by most of the Northern 
nations, but with such an admixture of pagan supersti- 
tion that its essential features were obliterated. The 
disorders consequent on all these abuses attained their 
height before the conclusion of the tenth century. Causes 
began at this period to influence society which produced 
a revolution in the state of Europe. Chivalry, which by 
inculcating a sympathy for the forlorn, as well as a regard 
for female chastity, taught the haughty offender whom 
the sovereign could not restrain, to dread, in associated 
strength, a power superior to his own. The crusaders 
opened new sources of wealth, created a taste for foreign 
commodities, and laid the foundation for commercial 
intercourse. Large towns procured by arms or purchased 
their freedom. Sovereigns long trammelled by the power 



* Tacitus, p. 545, note 6 (Mur.'s ed.). Rob. Am., Vol. I. Bk. I. 
p. 49. Rev. xiv.-xx. Dan. xii. 4. Mod. Eu., Vol. II. p. 176. 



NATIONAL PROGRESS IN EUROPE AND AMERICA. 339 

of their barons began to treat with respect the commons, 
in many instances constituting them a distinct estate. 
Possessed of the balance of power, the commons obtained 
the enfranchisement of that portion of society which cul- 
tivated the soil or performed menial services. The bar- 
barous modes of judicial trial by ordeal and duel gave 
place to the present system. Private wars were interdicted 
by public authority. The discovery of the pandects at 
Amalfi, in Italy, was followed by important consequences. 
The world was charmed with the civil law; its study was 
commenced; professorships established. A new road open- 
ing to preferment, the ardor for military pursuits abated. 
A taste for science gradually pervaded Christendom; men 
of letters were encouraged; colleges founded; courses of 
education settled; academical honors invented; and though 
for a time a false taste and the too-common use of the 
Latin language counteracted the beneficial effects of these 
changes, yet they eventually accomplished the improve- 
ment of the manners of society. The discovery of paper in 
the fourteenth and printing in the fifteenth century intro- 
duced a new era in human progress. 

Commerce, which had ministered to the necessities of 
men, produced luxuries between the beginning of the four- 
teenth and the middle of the sixteenth century. Italians 
commenced the culture of silk and the sugar-cane within 
their own borders. Flanders was not behind Italy. Its 
manufactories of woollen and linen caused foreign inter- 
course which resulted in extensive commercial relations. 
Architecture revived in Italy and was studied through thn 
Low Counties; so that the inhabitants in these places lived 
in houses erected with elegance, while the residents of 
London and Paris were in possession of miserable cottages 
constructed without even chimneys. Still, literature was 
but in its infantile condition. The romances of the 



340 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIKE AND PROPHECY. 

troubadours of Provence attest this fact. But having 
commenced existence, its course was onward. It broke 
with effulgence upon Europe in the productions of Dante, 
Petrarch, Boccaccio, and Chaucer, Italy claims the first 
three, England the last. Nor was France without her 
William of Lorris and John of Meun. Nevertheless Italy 
was destined to elevate the character of the moderns to the 
standard of the ancients in the productions of Arisoto and 
Tasso, the poets; Machiavel and Guicciardini, the histo- 
rians. Navigation, and consequently commerce, received 
an unwonted stimulus from the discovery of the compass 
(a.d. 1302). The Portuguese navigators, under the reign 
of Don Henry, discovered the Azores and Cape Verd Islands; 
doubled Capes Blanco, Bazadore, Verd, and at last Sierra 
Leone. In the time of his successor, John II., many 
places in the interior of Africa were conquered and the 
Cape of Good Hope settled. Emanuel I., pursuing the 
policy of his predecessors, equipped a fleet under the com- 
mand of Da Gama, who after numberless dangers succeeded 
in opening the line of navigation by sea to the East Indies, 
thus giving his countrymen possession of that trade 
by which Venice and the other Italian cities had been long 
enriched. The voyage of De Cabral, in addition to Brazil, 
placed Malabar in possession of Portugal. Albuquerque 
was commissioned; Goa, Malacca, and Ormus were subdued; 
and Lisbon made the mart of the world. Meantime a 
spirit of enterprise was awakened in Spain. The oft-re- 
peated petitions of Christopher Columbus, a Genoese navi- 
gator, were granted (a.d. 1492). A small fleet was com- 
mitted to his charge, in which he discovered that group of 
islands now known as the West Indies. A third voyage 
opened the way to the continent which ought to bear his 
name, but which is denominated America, from Americus 
Vespucius, a Florentine navigator employed by the mer- 



NATIONAL PROGRESS IK EUROPE AtfD AMERICA. 341 

chants of Seville. Mexico was reduced by Cortes, Peru by 
Pizarro. A westerly passage to the East Indies was dis- 
covered by Magellan through the straits at the south of the 
American continent which bear his name. The trade from 
this source becoming a matter of the highest importance, 
it excited the jealousy of the Portuguese to such a degree 
that Charles V., not wishing to involve himself in further 
wars, secured it to them. Philip II. planted large colonies 
in the Manillas, which he named, after himself, the Phil- 
ippine Islands. The tyranny of the king of Spain over the 
United Provinces turned the attention of the Dutch to the 
rich trade of the Indies. The successive voyages of Hout- 
man, Van Neck, and Warwick wrested from the Portuguese 
not only the wealth of the East Indies, but their settlements 
in Brazil. These successful enterprises roused the ambi- 
tion of the English. Bloody scenes of war ensued between 
the ships of the two nations, which eventuated in an 
arrangement that Moluccas, Amboyna, and Banda should 
belong in common to the parties, the English being entitled 
to one third, the Dutch to two thirds of the trade at a 
fixed price; that each should contribute in proportion to 
their interest for the defence of the islands; that the treaty 
should remain in force twenty years; that both should 
avoid clandestine contracts with the natives; and that all 
disputes which could not be settled by the Dutch and 
English trading companies should be determined by the 
crown of Great Britain and the states-general of the pro- 
vinces. The rapacity of the Dutch broke the treaty by 
stripping the English of the Spice Islands. The feeble 
reign of James I. was insufficient to redress this outrage. 
Commotions in the times of Charles I. prevented any 
effectual interference. Cromwell rendered some assistance 
to the struggling interests of the company, but his needy 
successor, Charles II, almost reduced it to ruin. 



342 OUTLIKE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

England had not remained inactive in the West during 
the progress of her neighbors. John Cabot, a Venetian 
mariner in the service of Henry VIL, not only landed on 
the island of Newfoundland, but prosecuted his voyage 
along the shore of the American continent from the Gulf 
of St. Lawrence to Cape Florida. No benefit was derived 
from these discoveries until the middle of Elizabeth's 
reign, when that queen, roused by the aspiring course of 
Philip TL, induced adventurers to commit depredations on 
his American subjects. Sir Francis Drake was pre-eminent 
in this service. That brave commander, with four ships, 
passed through the Straits of Magellan into the South Sea 
and enriched himself by the capture of many valuable 
prizes. This success awakening in the kingdom a desire 
for foreign enterprise, suggested to Sir Walter Ealeigh the 
scheme of a settlement within the regions visited by Cabot. 
A company was formed for this purpose; a patent procured 
from the queen ; and two ships, commanded by Philip 
Amidas and Arthur Barlow, sent out. Landing in the 
Eoanoke, the settlers planted a colony, to which they gave 
the name of Virginia. The settlement thrived for some 
time, but finally falling to decay, was abandoned. This 
unfortunate experiment threw a damper on the spirit of 
colonization during the remainder of Elizabeth's reign. It 
however revived in the reign of James I. in consequence 
of the voyages of Gosnard and other navigators. Two 
companies were formed under royal sanction ; the one of 
adventurers, belonging to London, the other of residents 
in Plymouth, Bristol, and Exeter. The former equipped 
three vessels commanded by Christopher Newport. The 
colonists, being supplied as well with arms of defence as 
with implements of agriculture, landed in the Chesapeake. 
Obtaining leave from the natives to settle, they formed a 
colony (a.d. 1607) which was called Jamestown, in honor 



NATIONAL PKOGKESS IN EUROPE AND AMERICA. 343 

of the king. The settlement soon became of importance 
to the mother-country by reason of the trade in tobacco. 
On the same account the province of Maryland, settled 
in the reign of Charles II. by Cecil Lord Baltimore, a 
Koman Catholic nobleman (a.d. 1632), attained a high 
state of prosperity. The first successful settlement in New 
England was made at New Plymouth (a.d. 1620). It was 
composed of one hundred and twenty persons who, previous 
to their emigration, had resided at Leyden in consequence 
of religions persecution in England. The adventurers held 
a patent from the London Company, but on account of the 
jealousy of the Dutch in New York they were landed north 
of the territory of the corporation. In the course of ten 
years these colonists were followed by large bands of Puri- 
tans, who held their rights under the Plymouth Company,* 
the territory of which had been considerably enlarged by 
Charles I. Eeligious discussions from time to time gave 
rise to new establishments among the settlers, while the 
spirit of enterprise in the mother-country tended constantly 
to introduce adventurers in large numbers, so that in the 
space of fifty years New England became a populous and 
prosperous portion of the civilized world. The Carolinas 
were granted (a.d. 1663) by Charles II. to Lord Claren- 
don and others, who took immediate steps for permanent 
settlement. One year afterwards the Duke of York, having 
received a charter from his brother which covered the 
Dutch colonies in New York, reduced them to submission. 
A portion of the territory thus acquired, denominated New 
Jersey* was conveyed by the Duke to Lord Berkeley and Sir 
George Carteret. Eighteen years subsequent William 
Penn received his charter (a.d. 1682), and rapidly settled 

*MarsaITs Life of Washington, Introduction, pp. 12, 22, 78. 
Holmes' Annals. Rus. Mod. Eu., Vol. II. p. 188; Vol. III. p. 456. 



344 OUTLIKE EVOLUTION" OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY- 

Philadelphia. A corporation of twenty-one persons obtained 
a grant of Georgia, nearly half a century from the last 
settlement. In addition to the colonies in North America, 
the English founded an establishment at Surinam, on the 
borders of Guiana, in South America. Haying seized many 
of the West India Islands, they acquired the sugar-trade 
early in the seventeenth century. This immense commerce 
was increased yearly by the industry of the colonists, forti- 
fied by the policy of the mother-country, through which 
its benefits were eventually secured by the Navigation Act. 

About the commencement of the sixteenth century, the 
Russians, with whom a beneficial fcraffio had been opened 
by the English in consequence of the discovery of a pas- 
sage round North Cape, commenced their manufactories, 
which in the course; of a short period of time rivalled and 
finally excelled those of the Flemings. Though Spam and 
Portugal had received such quantities of gold from Amer- 
ica, though the Dutch had derived such inexhaustible 
sources of wealth from the trade of India, though. England 
enjoyed such flattering prospects from her western colonies, 
France, the most potent kingdom of Europe, possessed 
abroad at this time only the settlements in Louisiana and 
Canada, together with a few unimportant plantations in 
Martinique and Guadalupe ; while at homo her silk manu- 
factories wen; in a state of but progressive improvement. 

Society haying attained the utmost point of refinement 
in Italy, began to decline. Other nations commenced im- 
provement. France took the lead. In its first efforts it 
was involved in a course of manners disgustingly licen- 
tious. This result was produced by Francis I., who en- 
couraged females to appear publicly at court.* The wise 

* Sully's Mems. Iius. Mod. Eu., Vol. IV. p. 215; Vol. V. pp. 
28, 403. 



NATIONAL PROGRESS IN EUROPE AND AMERICA. 345 

minister of Henry IV. could not totally destroy the vice 
of the times, but attempted its correction by blending with 
the evil from which it originated a spirit of heroism. 
Chivalric acts became the passport to a lady's affections. 
The favors of the softer sex being more hard to purchase, 
were less frequently enjoyed. The folly once corrected, 
though never so imperfectly, gradually disappeared. In the 
reign of Louis XIII., love, instead of being treated as a 
passion, was graduated by the most abstract if not refined 
principles. During the regency of the Austrian Princess 
Anne the tender passion received a more romantic turn 
than even that given to it by Sully's policy. Women be- 
came the leaders of factions, the advisers in matters of 
state. A change in the affections of a lady averted or pro- 
duced revolutions. These evils found an effectual remedy 
in that elegant system which the refined mind of the pol- 
ished Louis XIV. originated. The saucy freedom of sensu- 
ality, the rash feats of chivalry, the fickle rule of female 
factionists, were succeeded by the natural freedom, ease, and 
propriety of virtue. Woman was elevated to her true scale 
in society ; becoming the patroness of every accomplish- 
ment, the pattern of chastity, the source of rational enjoy- 
ment. The court, completely regenerated in all its princi- 
ples, was converted into a school of the strictest morality. 
The custom of settling matters of honor by duelling almost 
extinguished itself by rendering gentlemen more tender of 
personal feeling. Not only in France, but throughout the 
neighboring nations on this side the Alps, were sculpture, 
painting, and music brought to the highest degree of im- 
provement. French literature was elevated during the 
reign of Francis I. by the productions of Rabelais, Mon- 
taigne, Marot, Voiture, Balzac, Corneille, and Pascal. 

From the Reformation religious men and religious manners 
became more pure. The Protestants, pursuant to their pro- 



346 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

f essed attachment to the Scriptures, encouraged the study of 
the original languages in which they were written. In order 
to match their adversaries, the Catholics pursued the same 
policy. With an " open Bible and the right of private judg- 
ment on religious and moral subjects/' the dogmas of Rome 
were regarded as " things of the past." Ignorance ceased to 
be the " mother of devotion/' money the medium of access to 
God. Science began to be regarded as the food of the mind, 
the piety of the heart that homage most acceptable to the 
Deity. The pope, however, foresaw the danger threatening 
the stability of his empire. Hence originated the order of 
Jesuits, which was composed of a band of men free from 
monastic duties. His holiness quickly filled the world with 
a host of skilled, shrewd, and pliant tools who were em- 
ployed as teachers of science; acted as confessors; were 
known as missionaries; bought up the produce of their 
converts, exposing it for sale in warehouses of their 
own founding in different parts of Europe. Wealth and 
power emboldened them to acts which at their commence- 
ment they would not have ventured to perform. Prover- 
bially subtle, they introduced a supple casuistry which ex- 
tenuated any crime or tolerated any vice that had for its 
object the interest of their ecclesiastical head. The world 
soon beheld again an effort to revive those doctrines which 
had enabled the pope in former times to triumph over 
popular liberty under pretence of superior sanctity and 
science. The attack was cunningly commenced upon the 
reformers. Every mode that ingenuity or learning could 
suggest was industriously applied to check the progress of 
the Reformation. But the light of truth was too resplend- 
ent to be eclipsed by such puny efforts, only showing what 
the Roman hierarchy would do if it had, as of old, the power. 
Knowledge attained a high state of perfection in England 
as early as the middle of Elizabeth's reign. Spenser and 



NATIONAL PROGRESS IN EUROPE AND AMERICA. 347 

Shakespeare gave a turn to national taste which placed 
British literature on that proud pre-eminence which it now 
occupies. Nor were the times of James I. destitute of 
great men, although the pedantry of the monarch unfor- 
tunately communicated to their writings a staidness not 
congenial to learning. The English language nevertheless 
was greatly improved hy Hooker, Camden, Raleigh, Fair- 
fax, Fletcher, Jonson, Drayton, and Daniel. Its force was 
fully tested by the disputes consequent on the high preten- 
sions of Charles I. These awakened the brilliant genius 
of Milton. If no other work existed but " Paradise Lost" 
by which the strength of the English language could be 
established, that would be sufficient to confirm its claim to 
a close affinity, if not a strict equality, with the Greek. 
Still the English tongue was wanting in the refinement 
which a polished state of society is calculated to communi- 
cate. The productions of Dry den, Waller, Otway, Tillot- 
son, Clarendon, Temple, Lee, supplied this deficiency in 
defiance of the corrupting influence of manners during the 
reign of Charles II. The sciences made greater progress 
than polite learning during the seventeenth century. Sir 
Francis Bacon, who lived in the reign of James L, not only 
broke the fetters of a false, but taught mankind how to 
acquire a true, philosophy, by reasoning experimentally upon 
both moral and intellectual subjects. Guided by this prin- 
ciple, Harvey commenced that series of investigations 
which resulted in the discovery of the circulation of the 
blood. Not long after the Restoration the Royal Society 
was founded. Under its auspices Wilkins, Wallace, New- 
ton, and Boyle perfected their improvements in mathe- 
matics and natural philosophy. Metaphysical knowledge 
was mastered by the capacious intellect of Locke, who with 
a familiar freedom gave his discoveries to mankind, in which 
he traces the development of the human understanding. 



348 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIEE AND PROPHECY. 

Admirably indeed does the sententious language of the 
captive prophet portray this phase in the unfolding of the 
world's history, the age of liberty and activity, of art and 
science: "But thou, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal 
the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to 
and fro, and knowledge shall be increased." (Dan. xii. 4.) 

From the commencement of this period of events, one 
improvement has rapidly succeeded another until the steam- 
boat, the railroad, the telegraph, and the discoveries in 
science upon which they rest have effected radical alterations 
in the conditions of men and the relations of empires. It 
is a striking event of the times that the civil and religious 
tyranny prevalent for ages throughout Christendom has 
received a fatal blow from the advancement of popular 
education and the unrestrained right of private judgment 
upon all matters, whether of church or state. 

The Navigation Act and the destruction consequent on 
the wars with England reduced the commerce of the 
Dutch almost entirely to the trade with the Indies. Thus 
contracted it gradually declined, while that of England 
constantly increased. Early in the reign of Louis XIV. 
Colbert established a French East India Company, which, 
in consequence of its want of prosperity as well as the 
failure of the Mississippi Scheme, was united with the West 
India Company. A disseverance eventually occurred which 
put both companies on an independent footing. France 
owes her wealth and commerce entirely to the genius and 
industry of her own citizens. The encouragement of Col- 
bert perfected the manufacture of fancy articles, and 
enabled his countrymen to supply the world with these 
articles for half a century. This monopoly was destroyed 
by the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. The general con- 
dition of commerce, however, was not affected, inasmuch 
as the labor and wealth thereby subtracted from the nation 



NATIONAL PROGRESS IN EUROPE AND AMERICA. 349 

were immediately thrown into trade in the countries where 
the Huguenots settled. England attributes much of her 
skill in the finer manufactures to this event. The same 
cause produced a sensible effect upon the fabrics of Ger- 
many and Holland. The increased supply of these articles 
consequent upon the instruction of so many nations in the 
fabrication of them would doubtless have been injurious 
to the market had not the demand for them been greatly 
increased by the flourishing condition of the Western 
colonies. They were exchanged in those regions for coffee, 
sugar, cotton, and other articles. An appalling evil, how- 
ever, obstructed to a great extent the trade in this portion 
of the world. On the failure of the gold-mines in His- 
paniola it was deserted by the inhabitants, who upon their 
departure left many of the necessaries, as well as some of 
the luxuries, which they had acquired. Lawless French and 
English outcasts were induced by this circumstance to 
make settlements on the islands. These desperadoes were 
called buccaneers, from the fact of their drying with smoke 
the flesh of animals in places called " buccans." The only 
mode of their subsistence, the wild animals, failing, the 
more daring spirits associated under the name of "the 
brothers of the coast." One degree of violence succeeded 
another, until these wretches became the scourge of the 
Western waters. In their ravages under Montbars, Basco, 
Lolonois, and Morgan they committed terrible enormities 
at Maracaibo, Porto Bello, and Panama. The defection 
of Morgan and the wars between France and England so 
divided these destroyers that in the course of time their 
existence was extinguished. Port Royal, in the island of 
Jamaica, had been the scene of their pleasures as well as 
the receptacle of their wealth. The curse of their vices 
rested on it after their names were known only by the 
recollection of their crimes. It continued to be a place of 



350 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

illicit traffic with tlie Spanish settlements, which was the 
more securely conducted under cover of that stipulation in 
the treaty of Utrecht which gave to the English the right 
of supplying the Spanish colonies with negroes. The 
Spanish government, to prevent these frauds, stationed 
the guarda costas at convenient points, whose outrages on 
British traders excited the retribution of their government. 

The social system underwent great improvement during 
the eighteenth century. Kussia, at its commencement in 
a state of barbarism, made rapid advancement in civiliza- 
tion. Sweden and Denmark did not deteriorate. Linnaeus, 
the profoundest naturalist of modern times, was a native 
of the former country. Germany underwent little change 
in the general condition of its people, but science received 
a great impulse there by the patronage of Frederick, king 
of Prussia, and the genius of Gesner and Klopstock. The 
Swiss, instead of continuing the hurtful practice of hiring 
their surplus population as soldiers to the contending 
powers of Europe, found it to their interest to turn their 
attention to the establishment of factories and the cultiva- 
tion of the soil. Italy acquired new lustre by the courts 
of Turin and Naples, the rapid improvement in music and 
poetry, and the classical turn given to its opera by the 
chaste airs of Metastasio. A taste for science and agricul- 
ture was communicated to Spain and Portugal after the 
expulsion of the Jesuits. 

A bitter controversy between the Jansenists and Jesuits 
about points of theology produced distraction in France 
during the days of Louis XIV. The former having the 
advantage in argument, the latter submitted one hundred 
and three propositions to the pope for his decision. A bull, 
denominated Unigenitus, pronounced all the points but 
two heretical. The parliament, the archbishop of Paris, 
fifteen prelates, many of the most respectable clergymen, 



NATIONAL PROGRESS IN EUROPE AND AMERICA. 351 

and the mass of the people opposed the bull, alleging that 
it was an infringement on the rights of the Gallican 
church and a violation of the laws of the kingdom. Two 
parties consequently arose, the acceptants and the recu- 
sants. The death of Louis XIV. gaye a temporary cessa- 
tion to the dispute, inasmuch as the Duke of Orleans, who 
succeeded as regent, directed the recusant bishops to re- 
ceive the bull with certain explications, which they deemed 
satisfactory. Confessional notes signed by a priest who 
adhered to the bull being demanded in order to receive 
extreme unction, the flames of discord were again lighted. 
The new archbishop of Paris took part with the acceptants. 
The parliament of that city adhered to the recusants. 
Louis XV. forbid the parliament to interfere in the matter. 
Disregarding the command, that body were proceeding 
against the bishop of Orleans when they received a lettre- 
de-cachet directing them to suspend all further prosecu- 
tions relative to the sacraments. Eesorting to remon- 
sfcranoe, the parliament was anew directed to transact its 
legitimate business. Upon their reply that duty and oath 
required them to complete what they had. commenced, the 
members were banished to different parts of the kingdom. 
A royal chamber was created to supply the place of the 
dissolved parliament. Popular indignation fell so heavily 
on the new court that it was impossible for it to conduct 
public business. Louis was compelled to recall the exiles, 
who entered Paris amid extravagant expressions of joy. 
Former scenes of commotion raged with redoubled acri- 
mony. Hoping to rid himself of further responsibility, the 
king submitted the case to the pope. Benedict decided 
that the bull must be acknowledged as a universal law. 
Indignant at the invasion of its rights, the Parisian parlia- 
ment suppressed the papal brief by an arr^t. This manly 
boldness enraged the king to such an extent that he sup- 



352 OUTLINE EVOLUTION" OF EMPIEE AND PROPHECY. 

pressed the fourth and fifth chambers of inquests. Eesolved 
neither to be oppressed nor insulted, fifteen counsellors of 
the great chamber and one hundred and twenty-four mem- 
bers of the other courts of parliament deposited their 
resignations. This prompt yet decorous movement secured 
the popular voice in favor of the parliament. A general 
expression of disgust at the royal measures succeeded 
throughout the kingdom. Louis eventually banished the 
archbishop of Paris and accommodated differences with 
the parliament. Popular feeling, thus far completely 
triumphant, now turned against the Jesuits, who from the 
commencement of the struggle had been the supporters of 
the bull Unigenitus. On their refusal to discharge the debts 
of one of their members who had become bankrupt, they 
were cited before the parliaments and ordered to do justice 
to their creditors. Although they did not demur against 
the correctness of the decisions, yet they avoided a com- 
pliance by a variety of pretexts. More energetic measures 
were considered necessary to carry into effect the popular 
will. Accordingly new suits were commenced against them 
on account of the pernicious tendency of their writings. 
In the progress of these proceedings the Jesuits were com- 
pelled to produce their institutes, which were found on 
examination to contain principles totally subversive of 
government and morals. This discovery accomplished 
their ruin; their colleges were wrested from them, their 
effects forfeited to the crown, and finally the sovereign 
banished them from the realm. A victory so complete 
over ecclesiastical tyranny, backed by royal authority, in- 
duced the parliament to curb the power of the king. 
Registration of unpopular acts was accordingly refused, 
the right of remonstrance exercised with unusual freedom, 
and prosecutions instituted against provincial governors. 
Amidst these distracting theological disputes the French 



NATIONAL PROGRESS IN EUROPE AND AMERICA. 353 

did not lose sight of literature and the arts. Indeed it was 
their good fortune to produce some of the brightest intel- 
lects that have ever appeared in the world. Political 
economy was profoundly developed by the Baron de 
Montesquieu. Moral science was treated with precision 
by Helvetius, whose efforts to strip it of Jesuitical subtle- 
ties were eminently successful. Buff on did equal benefit 
to the race by his inimitable survey of the natural world. 
Duhamel, by ingeniously expounding the principles of 
husbandry, rendered it a popular study. The former 
measure of glory which had been accredited to France by 
reason of the writings of Racine and Corneille was greatly 
increased by the brilliant genius of Voltaire, Rousseau, 
the Crebillons, Marmontel, Diderot and D'Alembert, the 
latter of whom produced that incomparable compend of 
science, the Encyclopaedia. It is, however, a source of re- 
gret that the French writers of this period should have 
been so strongly tinctured with infidel principles. 

ISTor was England behind France in the progress of the 
arts and sciences. The revolution which ushered into 
power the Protestant succession was conducive to this end. 
Although the reign of William III., by driving the Tories 
from court, relaxed the energies of some learned men, yet 
the accession of Anne opened to the world the brightest 
period of British literature. Poetry was carried to its high- 
est perfection by Prior, Armstrong, Akenside, Thomson, 
Gray, Collins, Shenstone, and Pope. Unrivalled prose com- 
position was produced by Addison, Steele, Rowe, Swift, 
Bolingbroke, Chesterfield, and Johnson. Fielding, Smollett, 
and Richardson introduced a new species of romance, both 
comic and tragic in its character, entirely stripped of that 
military heroism which been had considered its necessary ac- 
complishment. Sated with this sort of literature, public 
attention was powerfully attracted by the appearance of a 



354 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

description of composition much more profound and no 
less elegant in the historical writings of Robertson and 
Hume. The subsequent times of the two Georges were 
not congenial to the progress of genius. Nevertheless the 
arts and sciences were not neglected. Painting, statuary, 
architecture, and engraving were promoted by the efforts 
of Reynolds, Wren, Bacon, and Strange. Modern garden- 
ing was greatly improved by the classic suggestions of 
Kent. Mathematics and natural philosophy found pa- 
trons in Halley, Gregory, Maclaurin, and Tull. Meta- 
physics and moral science were treated by Hume and 
Hardey: of Hume, however, candor compels the admission 
that notwithstanding the manner of his writings is elegant 
and his reasoning luminous, still some of his principles if 
carried out would subvert both natural and revealed reli- 
gion. 

Two Spanish mathematicians, Juan and Ulloa, were em- 
ployed by Philip V. in a survey of Peru; whose observa- 
tions confirmed the opinion of Sir Isaac Newton that the 
earth is an oblate spheroid flattened at the poles and pro- 
jecting near the equator. The Russians turned their at- 
tention towards exploring. Behring and other navigators 
visited the seas which lay between the northern parts 
of Asia and America. The result of these voyages was 
the discovery of the northern archipelago. After the 
peace of Paris the English monarch equipped Byron on a 
voyage of this description. Taking a southwest direction, 
the navigator passed through the Straits of Magellan; tra- 
versed the Pacific, where he discovered what he called King 
George's Islands, together with two others which he named 
after the Princes of Wales and York; steered for Tinian, 
which he reached; thence proceeded to Java, and returned 
home by the way of the Cape of Good Hope. In the fol- 
lowing year Wallis and Carteret made their voyages. The 



NATIONAL PROGRESS IN EUROPE AND AMERICA. 355 

former was the first who discovered Otaheite and other 
islands of less importance in the Pacific, while the latter 
rendered some service to his country by exploring the 
coasts of New Britain and New Ireland. Determined not 
to be outdone, the French made preparations for a grand 
nautical enterprise. The command of their force was 
committed to Bougainville. Little more can be said of 
this exploit than that it was the first voyage made by 
a Frenchman round the world. Cook, under the direction 
of the English government, made his first voyage, which 
resulted in the discovery of the Society Islands, the set- 
tlement of the latitude and longitude of various places, 
as well as the exploration of the eastern coast of New Hol- 
land, to which he gave the name of New South Wales. A 
desire to determine the dispute as to the existence of a 
great southern continent induced the king of England 
to put another force under the command of Cook. After 
an absence of two years the captain returned home, having 
settled in the negative the question which gave rise to his 
voyage. The Spaniards continued their explorations 
from their landing in St. Domingo.* In the forepart of 
the sixteenth century Hernando Cortes penetrated as far 
as the coast of California. Eight years afterwards an 
expedition was conducted by Cabrillo. Its object was to 
proceed as far north on the Pacific front as possible, with 
a view to discover positions susceptible of permanent colo- 
nization. Before the completion of the voyage the com- 
mander died and Eerrelo succeeded to his authority. The 
result of the enterprise was a critical examination of the 
coast from the thirty-fourth to the forty- third parallel of 
latitude. Intent upon something more than mere geo- 
graphical knowledge, the enterprising Castilians followed 

* Greenhough's Mem. Dix's Speech. 



356 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE A.ND PROPHECY. 

up their discoveries on the western coast of America by set- 
tlements of quite an extensive character. Towards the lat- 
ter end of the sixteenth century the Spaniards equipped an 
expedition under command of the Greek pilot Juan de 
Fuca, with a view to discover the straits by which the 
north Pacific was supposed to communicate with the north 
Atlantic Ocean. In pursuit of this object, Fuca entered 
what he considered an extensive inlet from the sea between 
the forty-eighth and forty- ninth parallels of latitude, where 
he sailed for more than twenty days. This strait bears the 
name of its discoverer to this period of time. Eleven years 
subsequent to the voyage of Fuca, Vizcaino, under the 
direction of the crown of Spain, added two new items of 
information in a survey of the coast of California as far 
north as the thirty-seventh, and in the exploration of the 
whole front of the continent to the forty-third, parallel of 
latitude. The voyages of Berkeley in the same quarter pro- 
duced misunderstandings between England and Spain 
which were arranged by the treaty of the Escurial. Eng- 
land procured by this instrument a right to trade in the 
north seas. G-rey, an enterprising navigator from Boston, 
commanding the ships Columbia and Washington, having 
entered the Pacific in the latter part of the eighteenth 
century, eventually penetrated' a large river of fresh water, 
to which he gave the name of Columbia. The government 
of the United States pursued this discovery by the land 
explorations of Lewis and Clark and the Missouri and 
Pacific Fur Companies. Much speculation existing among 
the English in regard to a northern passage by water 
through America, Cook was sent out five years subsequent 
to the treaty of Paris. After protracted labors, during 
which he discovered the islands denominated the Sandwich, 
he determined that Asia and North America were separated 
by a channel thirteen leagues in width. The suggestions 



NATIONAL PROGRESS 12* EUROPE AND AMERICA. 357 

of Cook upon the fur-trade which might be conducted 
with the savages that occupied the regions he had visited 
were adopted by the English; an association styled King 
George's Sound Company was formed, and an expeditien 
projected under the command of Portlock and Dixon. 
Near about the same time Louis XVI. equipped two vessels 
under Perouse for a purpose similar to that, which gave 
rise to the last voyage of the unfortunate Cook. No tidings 
were ever received of the commander or his force. Van- 
couver's voyage was a confirmation of Cook's determination 
as to a northern passage. Although the expedition of Eoss, 
in the early part of the nineteenth century, cast little new 
light on this subject, the suggestion of his second officer, 
Parry, has by means of the efforts of Simpson and Dease 
gone far towards settling the existence of a naval passage 
in the North. The fate of Franklin, Kane, and Hall still 
leaves the subject in uncertainty. 

The protracted wars of the eighteenth century deeply 
affected the commerce of Europe, by impairing the power 
of its kingdoms to furnish their wonted products. After 
the treaty of Paris this evil speedily wrought its own rem- 
edy. Woollen fabrics, iron, steel, tin, lead, copper, brass, 
leather, were afforded by the British; fine stuffs, brandies, 
wines, by the French. Oil, madder, salt, cork, barilla, | 
liquors, fruits, were produced in the southern peninsula; 
velvet, lace, brocade, corn, paper, mirrors, coral, flax, 
wool, hemp, silk, in the Italian cities. Carpets and dyes 
abounded in Turkey; copper, timber, hemp, flax, potash, 
peltry, in Eussia. The Swedish trade consisted of iron, 
copper, timber, fish, oil, pitch, tar; the Prussian, of porce- 
lain, corn, timber, glass, potash, madder, antimony, hemp, 
flax, tin, copper, spices, wine, brandy. Silver, iron, lead, 
copper, cobalt, hemp, flax, saffron, hops, abounded in the 
Palatinate; linen, coarse woollen, paper, glass, gold and 



358 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

silver lace, in the Hanoverian possessions; while Austria 
was able to supply valuable mineral productions, and the 
Swiss were not deficient in provisions, linen, cotton goods, 
silks, laces, and watches. The Genevans for a long time 
possessed the monopoly of the last article; eventually it 
was destroyed by the superior workmanship of the English. 

The genius of the French was much deteriorated by the 
revolution; still in the midst of their wars national ingenu- 
ity was displayed in improving the construction and man- 
agement of field-pieces, in affording unwonted facilities in 
the communication of intelligence by means of telegraphs, 
and in introducing a new mode of discovering the position 
or tracing the course of an army by the use of air-balloons. 
The arts and sciences were not totally abandoned. Natural 
philosophy flourished under the care of Macquer, Lavoisier, 
Arago; statuary and painting were produced by numerous 
masters. Napoleon's accession to power was attended by 
the restoration of learning in all its branches, as well as 
the amelioration of society throughout every department. 
However questionable it may be with some authors whether 
many of the compeers of the emperor might not have risen 
to the same height of power he attained had they been as 
reckless of human life as he was, yet it may be safely 
asserted that no man could have made a better use of power 
than Bonaparte, at all events so far as the internal condi- 
tion of France was concerned.* 

The advancement of science was never greater in Eng- 
land than from the latter part of the eighteenth to the 
middle of the nineteenth century. Black, Cavendish, 
Priestley, Kirwan, Hutton, Herschel, Miller, have advanced 
natural philosophy. A Eoyal Institute was founded; ethical 
science canvassed by Warburton, Hurd, "Watson, Paley, 

* Al. Eu. , in loc. 



NATIONAL PROGRESS IN EUROPE AND AMERICA. 359 

Louth, Porteus, Blair; medicine improved by Jenner's 
discoyery of vaccination as a preservative against the small- 
pox, as well as by the dissertations of Cullen, Brown, Dar- 
win. Literature owes much to the genius of Burke, Gib- 
bon, Gillies, Ferguson, Karnes, Tooke, Beattie, Cowper, 
Southey, Sheridan, Cowley, Byron, Moore, Montgomery, 
Scott, Dickens. Nor have any of these luminaries outshone 
their contemporaries in the United States: Franklin, Fulton, 
Godfrey, Ramsay, Marshall, Kent, Story, Cooper, Irving, 
Prescott, Bancroft, Longfellow. During the same period 
the Dutch have advanced general science; the Swiss have 
produced Haller, Bonnet, Senebier, Mallet: mineralogy 
and chemistry have flourished in Germany under the 
patronage of Werner and Humboldt; belles-lettres have 
attained a high degree of perfection by the productions of 
Schiller, Goethe, Lessing. Sweden has produced chemists 
and statuaries; Russia, mathematicians and historians; Italy 
has retained her fame as the nursery of the arts. Charles 
III. of Spain gave an impetus to science within the borders 
of his realm which has enabled it to accomplish great 
things in that kingdom. Austria has not kept pace with 
the improvements of the age, although it may be reason- 
ably hoped that within its limits learning has got the bet- 
ter of ignorance and reason commenced its triumph over 
superstition. Commerce has received a new element and 
impulse from the cotton and tobacco, the sugar and rice, 
the drugs and precious metals of America, where the in- 
dustry of over a hundred million of people are engaged in 
supplying the demands of trade. Those wonders of former 
ages, the canals of China,* as well as those constructed by 
Peter the Great of Russia, lose much of their importance 
in comparison with the canals and railroads of the Swedes 

* Phillips' Inland Navigation. 



360 OUTLINE EVOLUTION OF EMPIRE AND PROPHECY. 

and Dutch, the French and English, the people of Canada 
and the citizens of the United States. 

The discovery of electricity in the clouds during the year 
1752 by Franklin,* and of the quadrant in 1724 by God- 
frey at Philadelphia ;f the application of steam to naviga- 
tion in 1807 by Fulton, of New York, J and of electricity 
in 1837 by Morse, of the same place, § to the transmission 
of thought, form the principal agencies in completing the 
measure of human advancement to the present period. 
For some time after its invention the telegraph seemed 
destined to act only as an auxiliary to the railroad and 
steamboat, but it soon outstripped its rivals, crossed track- 
less worlds, passed boisterous seas, twice circled the Atlan- 
tic, and bids fair at no distant period to embrace all 
nations in its grasp. 

* Nicholson's Nat. Phil., p. 427. 
f Franklin's Memoirs. Walsh's Appeal, pp. 274-284. 
\ Colden's Life of Fulton. Walsh's Appeal, pp. 257-269. 
§ Turnbull's Telegraph. 



KATIOtfAL PROGRESS IK EUROPE AND AMERICA. 361 



NOTES OF THE PLACES IN THIS WORK WHERE PRO- 
PHECY IS FULFILLED. 



Introduction.— General coincidence between history and prophecy. 
Chapter I.— Downfall of Assyrian Empire predictedby Nahum. 
Chapter II.— Conquest of Babylon predicted by Isaiah and 

Jeremiah. 

Chapter IV.— The whole subject of prophecy as to Medo-Persian, 
Greek, and Roman empires reviewed. 

Chapter V.— The prophecies of the Incarnation stated. The 
Apocalypse analyzed, which gives a brief review of the leading im- 
perial events during the Christian era, religious and civil. 

Chapter VI— The pale horse of St. John indicates the gloomy 
twenty -five years of the Roman Empire in which one fourth of the 
human family was destroyed by violence. 

Chapter X.— The " ten toes" of the image of Daniel, the ten nations 
of Europe that are presented to view after the fall of the Western 
branch of the Roman Empire. 

Chapter XL— How the king of France formed the Western Em, 
pire and elevated the hierarchy of Rome to supreme power, as was 
predicted by John. 

Chapter XII.— Rome makes war on its opposers, and thus verifies 

RevT xiii. 7. 

Chapter XV.— Pope claims supremacy and puts to death those 
who opposed— John Huss and others— as predicted (Rev. xiii.). 

Chapter XVI.— The predicted overthrow of the Roman hierarchy. 
« Chapter XVIL— Papal Rome overthrown (Rev. xiv. 6-8). 

Chapter XVIIL— William panders to the pope. " None to buy," 

etc. (Rev. xiii. 17). 
Chapter XIX.— Protestants put to death in the time of Henry V. 

and Mary (Rev. xiii.). 
Chapter XXIII. —The age of advancement (Dan. xii. 4). Newton's 

conclusion. 



JLUI 



